The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Kwaaa! (You bastard! You almost crippled me!)"

 

The bandit's attack hit Ileca squarely on her leg, and while he was unsuccessful in cutting it off, his weapon was lodged in deeply there. At the shock of Ileca receiving the wound Anis rolled from her back to the ground, and with her short sword in her hand, she moved in for a clear hit to the bandit while he was still grounded - aiming to sever his neck in one swing, and if that failed somehow, Ileca was already ready to tear him apart afterwards. If the bandit was killed by this attack, Anis would immediately use her magic as a first aid to cover Ileca's wound. While it was far from a full heal for it, she at least restored the tissues there enough for ileca to be able to run again in a short while after this.

 

Meanwhile, Shirin had let itself go from Anis and slithered towards the primary area of the battle. There was one thing it was interested in, and it was one of the crossbows from one of the fallen bandits. Shirin was sure that it would have enough dexterity to operate it, and it would be small enough to be pretty unnoticed in the chaos of battle hopefully.

 

---

[Alaina]

An audible bang could be heard from the other side of the Earth Chosen's wall, followed with more than likely an anguished cry of pain. It was clear that her plan had worked, but it was also clear that the situation around them wasn't any better. The girl was trying her best to access everything, trying to figure out where she was put to use. There was the Water Chosen, who was currently down and engaged with a rather formidable looking foe alongside a person wielding a crossbow. The Earth Chosen felt compelled to go and help her as quickly as she could, but she wouldn't be fast enough to do something about it.There was the Ice Chosen that, surprisingly, had managed to down a rhino and its rider. The girl wasn't quite sure where the Nature Chosen currently was. And then finally the two closest to her being the Fire and Thunder Chosen. 

 

The two of them were their best shot at being able to deal with all of the current major threats, and they were both succesful in getting rid of their current targets. However, as they both seemed to have the full attention of the enemy right now, the girl knew she had to aid in one of them escaping. Deciding that, because of his earlier injury and due to being charged by two mounted units, the Earth Chosen decided to aid the man with the eyepatch. Once her analysis was finished, with a simple exchange of thought, Ackrin split off from the girl once again. With her charging to block one of the attacks of the mounted riders with her shield, Ackrin summoned a large cluster of rocks once again to fire them at one of the crossbow bandits. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Mah gurl attempting to block bandit l with shield-kun. 

Tall goat be shooting rocks at Bandit h

 

 

[Sethera]

Gilly rolled off the rhino adroitly, springing to her feet soon afterward. "Haha! You can't get me down! Halflings are agile, and I'm the most agile of them all! I'm Gilly, the mountain goat halfling!" she boasted. She realized soon afterward that her enemy wasn't really listening, curled up in pain on the ground. Walking forward, she materialized another ice spear, and stabbed down with it, the man's cries cutting off in a choked gasp. "That's what you get for going up against Gilly the Great. And for being a big bully!"

 

Snow had hopped back onto her shoulder, and was currently surveying the battlefield with cold eyes.

 

The coast now clear, Hob decided it was time to join the battle. Grabbing one of their reserve metal spears with his teeth, he hopped down from the rooftop, landing on the rhino. Going over to Gilly, he nudged her onto his back, and turned around to face the battlefield.

 

The halfling noticed one of the crossbowmen attempting to shoot at Reiny boy and yelled out, "Nuh-uh, no you don't you evil bully!" and charged forward atop Hob, who still held the spear in his teeth. She threw an ice spear at the crossbowman before grabbing the metal spear from her mount and holding it forward like a knight would. Whether she'd actually hit anything with it was up in the air.

[Andx]

The Draken's charge had been successful as his spear pierced through the bandit's side. Lindow was safe from this one for the moment. Despite the severity of his wound the bandit turned to try and bring his sword down upon Reinaan's head. Reacting quickly, he removed his right hand from his spear to grab hold of the swinging arm. He was already naturally stronger than most humans and this man was severely wounded so there was little he could do to carry his swing through. There was an audible snap of a bone as the Draken's claws tightened around the bandit's forearm. He knocked the weapon out of the man's hand to the ground then released the arm. With his left hand still grasping his spear, Reinaan raised his right leg and delivered a powerful kick to the dying man's chest, effectively removing him from the weapon and sending him back a few feet as the last bits of life drained out of him.

 

The battle was getting more chaotic as things continued on. The first rhino had collapsed, Ryia's earth wall had caused the explosive rock to kill the bandit that had used it. Three more were collapsing on them. Two more of the riders were fast approaching Lindow, looking for a chance to strike the already injured down. But the crossbowman had taken aim at Reinaan who more heard the bolt approaching than he saw it. Instinctively, the boy dove forward to avoid the projectile, doing a full roll and ending up back on his feet while low to the ground. "Ziiyol!" he called out to his spirit, who recognized the cue to lend her partner her power. The spirit faded as her powers flowed into Reinaan's body, causing sparks to fly off freely from his fully exposed scales. The flames claws extended a few feet out from his right hand as he prepared to attack the approaching lizard riders but he wasn't sure he would be in time to intercept one for Lindow. As he was about to leap forward he heard a cry.

 

Despite appearing to have not cared at all about what was going on, Kloqah had arrived and tackled the farther of the riders attempting to attack Lindow.  The boy would be sure to give her a hard time for getting involved on her own after everything was settled. But Reinaan kept his focus and inhaled deeply, hoping to take advantage of the situation and create more openings for the Thunder and Earth Chosen to exploit. A fire filled his chest as the empowered flames began stirring. After a moment he let out a snarl as he exhaled a powerful stream of fire at the other rider. As he wasn't right in the man's face the most he could hope to do would be to set the man's clothing and armor on fire and perhaps startle the lizard. But setting things on fire was usually enough of a distraction.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Reinaan handles dead dude.

Rolls forward to avoid getting shot by bandit I.

Kloqah tackles bandit L.

Reinaan spits super hot fire at bandit K.

 

 

[Hälō]

Lindow eyes widened as his comrades sprang to his aid. A loud metallic crash ringed through the air as Ryia's shield intercepted the bandit on his right's attack, and Reinaan's lizard companion crashed into the man's mount drawing their focus. Looking to his left, Lindow was forced to shield his eyes from the sudden spark of a torrent of flame as it spewed from the fire chosen's mouth and set the second incoming rider alight. Forced to roll off his lizard, the bandit hastily began to attempt to put out the searing flames that had settle on his clothes as his mount turned and fled the area.

 

Glancing over to the other side of the battlefield in time to see Keres' fall and Ackrin's rocks pepper the crossbowman that had set his sights on her, Lindow sprang into action. With Anis no where in sight, it fell on him to aid the little witch despite their differences. The Chosen of Fire and Earth would have to handle themselves from here on out...

 

"I'm gonna help her!" He called out to Ryia and Reinaan whilst his shadow began to grow unnaturally dark and quickly seemed to bubble and froth. Sinking into the darkness, Lindow's form vanished from sight, leaving a single patch of shadow that moved unnaturally through the battlefield's floor as if something were flying overhead. Shifting and crawling it's way up the wall until it finally placed itself behind the Bandit Chief, the shadow then expanded across the face of the ledge's wall to create a doorway of pure darkness.

 

Sensing something at his back, the bandit quickly started to turn as Lindow emerged from the darkness, causing the larger man to be forced off the ledge. However, he was able to recover quickly, landing on his feet as he peered up at the new combatant and spoke.

 

"And now there's this spook."

 

Lindow remained silent as he stood at the edge of the ledge. Gazing down at his opponent, he could easily tell that this particular man was a cut above the rest of the foes they had faced. One could sense that the bandit was a born killer just by the way he held his spear and dagger... 

 

Still mildly aware of the pain in his side, Lindow proceeded to chew the rest of his Adrenaline herb before swallowing the foul tasting paste whole. Filled with a new surge of energy, the Chosen of Thunder quickly leaped down to meet his foe, watching as the bandit quickly tossed his dagger to try and intercept him as he fell. Skillfully deflecting the projectile with the blade in his right hand, Lindow landed in an offensive stance just as the bandit took up his bladed spear in both hands and began to cautiously move into range.

 

Lindow's shadow once again grew unnaturally dark. Moving forward as if he planned to charge, Lindow swiped once with his left hand to test the other man's defenses and draw a reaction. Answering the challenge with downward stroke that swung off to the right, the bandit found that his spear was intercepted by Lindow's shadow, having once again manifested in the form of a murky silhouette of it's master.

 

As his shadow attempted to grab hold of the bandit's arm, Lindow quickly stepped to the left before suddenly lunging forward in a two bladed slash that was meant to slice both his shadow and the bandit in half. A perfect killing blow. Or it least would have been, had his opponent not been equally skilled in the art of murder... 

 

The bandit grunted with effort as he followed through with his attack, cutting right through the shadow and using the momentum from his swing to spin around and block Lindow's attack with the shaft of his weapon. The rattle of steel on steel sounded as the two were locked in a power struggle. "You're pretty good..." Unable to mask the thrill of combat, Lindow's eye narrowed with bloodlust as he threw a powerful roundhouse kick to the bandit's side. 

 

The man took the kick and winced. Then quickly thrusted his weapon forward, hitting the shaft against Lindow's face, and causing him to stumbled backwards before taking up his fighting stance.

 

"I know."

 

Spitting a glob of blood into the sand, Lindow readied both his blades defensively before waiting for the next part of their dance.

 

[spoiler= OOC]

 

Lindow Shadow Travels to Bandit Chief.

Lindow engages Bandit Chief and foot of the wall.

Lindow enters defensive stance.

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Anis's attack on her opponent landed successfully, severing the bandit's head from its neck and dropping him right that moment. She spent some time patching up her partner, though it seemed Ileca wouldn't be able to fight in the rest of this battle.

 

Gilly, surprise of surprises, had managed to finish off the rhino rider. The mount, alone, in a daze, began to wander off aimlessly no longer a threat unless provoked.

Thankfully the thud of the sheep landing on it didn't do much to cause the large animal any real discomfort.

 

Having focused on taking his shot the crossbowman didn't notice the ice spear hurtling towards him. Fortunately Gilly wasn't the best of shots so when it came down it cut across his leg instead of anything vital. Nonetheless it was still a wound on his leg which kept him from putting much pressure on it.
As he looked up he saw the wholly non-threatening view of a Halfling riding a sheep and got his crossbow ready to reload. He would just barely get it loaded before Gilly reached him but the moment he did he would let loose with a bolt at the charging girl.

 

As the lizard rider, now off his lizard, put out the flames he drew his blade. The Draken would have to be dealt with quickly. So he went right for him, aiming a two-handed swing down towards Reinaan's skull.

 

The other lizard rider had been blocked by Ryia's shield and, in the next moment, had a different lizard set upon him. He decided to let the two lizards wrestle each other and dove from his mount. One hand holding a javelin and the other a dagger, the bandit descended upon Ryia.

 

The former crossbowman, clutching a dagger, went a roundabout way, steering clear of the Chosen, and came up behind Kloqah as she was locked into combat with his companion's lizard. He got close to the beast and stabbed his dagger into her front left leg.

 

As Keres began to get up she noticed that she had been helped out by a surprising duo. The Earth Chosen's spirit...and Lindow.

She couldn't take much time to examine the scene though as the crossbowman, having only been stalled, was firing upon her. She attempted to use the water she had in her large flask to stop the bolt. However she only managed to alter its course and it punctured her right arm.

She hissed out in pain but knew she couldn't just stop to recover. She flung the water towards the crossbowman, striking, and damaging, his crossbow in the process.

The man drew a dagger and stepped forward...as the leader's rhino passed through the gate. Keres found herself with two foes. One a dagger wielding bandit...the other a huge, horned, animal. And she didn't have much water left in reserve.

 

The foe that Lindow faced was sizing up his opponent. "The spook has tricks. Good for him. Let's see how long they'll last against me." At the last word the bandit swung his polearm. Once more going for a strike that curved from the upper left to the lower right. However this time his movement was a feint. Not actually intending to connect he swiftly got his weapon down near Lindow's left leg and swung it in the other direction. The blunt end of the blade struck Lindow in the knee, sending him falling.

[spoiler=OOC]Bandits f and e are dead

Bandit h lost his crossbow and is now advancing on Keres with a dagger

Bandit i, being charged by Gilly, took a shot at the girl

Bandit j stabbed Reinaan's lizard in the leg. A wound that would limit her movements and make the "duel" with the other lizard difficult

Bandit k is trying for a two-handed skullshatter slice on Reinaan

Bandit l is now diving at Ryia with a javelin attempting to stab her

The rhino has entered the city

And the Sub-Boss is tripping Lindow up.

[spoiler=Map]

 

 

[Andx]

Lindow had sped off to assist Keres who appeared to be engaged with a particularly dangerous bandit. That left Reinaan, Ryia and Kloqah to handle the little cluster of bandits left behind here. Reinaan's target had managed to put out the flames on his clothing and armor after dismounting his lizard. Meanwhile one of the bandits had stabbed Kloqah's leg as she wrestled with the other lizard. She hissed and thrashed some but all she could focus on was the opposing lizard snapping at her. The Draken's foe was fast approaching looking to swing his sword with his all his might. The boy raised his hands in response, the javelin in his left, the flame claws extending from his right, and intercepted the blow. He would be able to hold him like this some but it didn't seem the claws would be melting through the blade any time soon. With a snarl he attempted to pull his arms back and apart, aiming to knock the clashing blade up. Quickly he twisted himself around and swung his tail low to the ground, aiming to knock the bandit off his feet. If successfully downed, the boy's fire claws would be quick to follow through the man's chest.

 

Kloqah meanwhile was rather angry. She had simply wanted to help her small lizard. But now this other lizard was trying to bite her, and this other old rider was hurting her with a knife. She hissed as she tried to swat at the man with her tail while trying to bite at the other lizard. The length of their necks made this effort something of a sword fight. Eventually the other lizard was able to latch its teeth on to her shoulder, eliciting another cry of pain. She would return the favor, locking the two creatures into a sort of bite stalemate. Or at the least it would be without outside interference.

[Sethera]

Gilly's heroic charge of heroism was swiftly interrupted by a dastardly bolt from the blue! She raised her shield like how she was taught--easy peasy for the Great Gilly--but the force of it knocked her backward, and off her mount. "Whaaa?!" the halfling cried out as she fell, her arms miniature windmills. "Th-this isn't faaaair!" she narrowly avoided getting kicked in the face by Hob's hooves, and flopped onto her back with a "oof," releasing a whoosh of air.

 

Hob stopped short and pawed at the ground, kicking up sand and dust, shaking his head in concern.

 

Snow took the opportunity to leap off of the halfling and land primly beside her. "What are you lying on the ground like that for? This is no time for sleeping."

 

Gilly popped up like a cork. "Wh-wha? No, I wasn't sleeping, silly rabbit," she giggled, before turning to the crossbowman from before, shield raised as she started running toward him. "Raaaa!" she shouted. "This is what you get for shooting at me!" though she had dropped her metal spear, she had no lack of others, materializing an ice spear instead, holding it forward to pierce the enemy.

 

Hob, meanwhile, trotted dutifully behind.

[Alaina]

As she had managed to deflect the blow from one of the lizard riders, the girl was then taken a bit by surprise as another lizard had rammed straight into them. A bit taken a back by the attack, it took the girl a second to remember that it was their own allied lizard, and thus any uneasy feeling she was getting from it was only partially mitigated. Her attention, however, was soon focused on to a different target, more specifically the rider she just defended against. Leaping off of his mount, the bandit seemed poised to stab the girl with his javelin, and so she took quick action to avoid getting impaled. Stepping to the side, she parried with her shield at the pointed weapon, attempting to shove the weapon towards its wielder. Following this, she would then attack with her mace, attempting to strike the man in the ribs. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Argh...I'm sorry Ileca, but you should withdraw for now."

 

There went that plan. Ileca's wound was deeper than Anis thought, and while she managed to patch her up, she was in no position to run as freely as she did normally, removing any advantage of going with the original plan she had. Gritting her teeth, she left for the nearest building she could as soon as she was sure Ileca had gone to a safe spot, although much to her chagrin, the building she was going to seem to have been partially crushed by one of the rhinos. There seemed to be enough decent footing on its roof though, so Anis went on with her decision and snuck inside of the building.

 

Preparing her bow, she would notice that most of the crossbowmen had been eliminated, except one that was being engaged by...Gilly. Well, he's out of Anis' range anyway, though Anis did silently wish that the halfling would get a scratch or two just to teach her the importance of not being reckless. Instead of targetting the crossbowman, Anis chose to fire at one of the bandits attacking Ryia and Reinaan...well, more accurately, she fired her bow to the lizard rider that attacked Reinaan's mount.

 

Meanwhile, Shirin struggled to find a way to fire the crossbow, but it being a snake seemed to be quite a detriment for it, so its effort went nowhere for now.

 

---

[Hälō]

Instinctively rolling moments after hitting the ground, Lindow brought himself to his knees and readied his body for the bandit's next assault.

 

He dodged the other man's slash towards his neck easily enough, though as Thunder chosen attempted to counter by discharging a field of static, he found the bandit was almost completely unaffected by Lily's magic. Lindow watched in shock as the man shook off the stunning bite of the electric stream, before refocusing himself only seconds after. 

 

 "Magic everywhere today." The larger man spat as he continued his advance. 

 

This wasn't good. Raising the sword in his left hand defensively, Lindow made a swipe for the bandit's legs, only to have his wrist swatted away be the blunt end of the bandit's staff. Seeing an opening, Lindow wasted no time in charging forward into his foes stance, swing his left blade up between their two colliding bodies whilst his right sword fell from his grasp.  

 

Leaning into the attack, the bandit swung his weapon downwards with all of his might, shattering it's shaft over Lindow's head just when the Thunder chosen's blade dug into his hip. 

 

Blood dripped from somewhere within his blue mane, narrowly missing his good eye as it creeped down his forehead and weaved under the bridge of his nose. "I forgot what it felt like to be covered in wounds..." His vision was now blurred at the edges and his voice seemed to coming from within a barrel when he mumbled to himself.

 

Between his battle with Kha, and the foes he had faced before this one, Lindow had had quite the busy day, and it was beginning show.

 

A look of cold determination resonated from his eye as he struggled against the bandit's grip on his sword arm, the only thing keeping his blade from cutting further into him. His right hand found it's in the exact opposite situation; gripping the free arm of the bandit, which held the sharp end of his destroyed weapon. The two were now locked in a deadly grapple. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The bandit that attacked Reinaan grunted in surprise as his blade was blocked by a flaming hand. His response time was stalled by this surprise and the next thing the bandit knew he was falling to the ground via Draken tail.

As Reinaan went in for the kill the man, abandoning his weapon, raised his hands up and caught Reinaan's wrist, shouting as he felt the flames lick at his hand.

 

The two lizards were locked in a deadly embrace. It was an equal fight...except that there was still a bandit with a knife. Who was currently climbing, carefully, on top of Kloqah. He raised his knife in both hands and prepared to bring it down on her head.

 

And then Anis's arrow came and struck him in the chest, toppling him over and killing him.

 

Shirin, in the meantime, was figuring out a way to work the crossbow. Unfortunately it didn't seem he'd be able to get more than one shot for he couldn't figure out a way to use it without the trigger breaking in the process.

 

The bandit that shot Gilly was reloading another shot while the Halfling was getting back to her feet. He managed to reload just before she reached him but had no time to fire. Instead he brought the crossbow up and in the way of the attack, blocking the ice spear with it. He then attempted to clobber the girl over the head with the ranged weapon.

 

As the other bandit dove at Ryia, his javelin was blocked by the shield, which ended up breaking the weapon. Instead of holding onto the chunk of wood the bandit, while falling, dropped it. Ryia's mace hit struck him in the ribs, cracking them, but the man continued to fall due to his momentum. He twisted, face in pain, towards her and stabbed into her shoulder, on the arm wielding the mace, with his dagger as he fell.

 

The grapple that Lindow was locked in seemed to be advantageous for the bandit. For it seemed the man was just above Lindow's strength level. He twisted the short piece of wood around so that the bladed end was pointing downward and inched closer to Lindow's face.

As Lindow was preoccupied keeping that away the bandit raised a foot and kicked Lindow in the stomach.

This caused the Chosen to be pushed back and losing his grip.. The blade in the bandit's side cut across him, causing pain, but it was no longer threatening to finish him off. Even as the blood flowed the man dove forward and thrust his weapon towards Lindow's throat.

 

Keres took a step back as the rhino prepared to charge and the other bandit began to flank her while holding the dagger. She was in a tight spot that was for sure. The only thing behind her was the battle between Lindow and the other bandit. She couldn't escape to the right for that was where the bandit with the dagger stood. And to the left was the wall itself.

Thinking quickly as the rhino started to move she grabbed some water from the only source nearby, Lindow's flask, and hit the rhino with illusion magic. It wouldn't last long but the rhino would experience several moments where it believed itself to be surrounded on all sides by a sheer drop and unable to move further.

 

The dagger wielding bandit attacked then and Keres tried to hold the man's arm back from stabbing into her chest. He was much stronger than her however and she wouldn't be able to hold out long. The only advantage she had was his attack slammed her into the wall so she had something to brace against.

 

Flux appeared by her side and entered her body, giving her a much needed power boost. With it she took the remaining water from Lindow's flask and, the added power giving her faster reaction time, was able to bring it towards her before the bandit pushed the dagger inside of her. She, having little time to think of a plan, shoved the water into the man's mouth, practically drowning him forcibly.

[spoiler=OOC]Bandit j is dead.

Bandit h has Keres pinned to the wall but she is keeping him at bay via drowning

Bandit i has blocked Gilly's attack and is trying to use a crossbow like a bludgeoning weapon

Bandit k is on the ground and barely keeping Reinaan from finishing him off

Bandit l has stabbed Ryia in the shoulder but is wounded and free falling

Bandit l's lizard is still grappling with Kloqah

The rhino is lost in illusion for now

And the sub-boss has broken free from Lindow's grapple and is now trying to shank him in the throat.

[spoiler=Map]

 

 

[Sethera]

By the time Gilly reached the bandit, he had already loaded his crossbow, but hadn't had time to shoot it. Instead, he blocked her attack with it, and then attempted to clobber her over the head with it.

 

The halfling, of course, wouldn't let that stand. She lifted the arm holding the ice spear, trying to ward off the bandit. And then Hob was there, butting his horns into the bandit's side. In his distraction, Gilly thrust her spear forward, aiming for his chest. "Hraaah!" Whether that would hit or not was another story.

 

Meanwhile, Snow glanced over the battlefield. His Chosen looked to have things well in hand, but some of the others did not. Lindow, especially, looked in need of help. His nose twitched in distaste, before he let out a gusty sigh. "I suppose it would be inconvenient were he to die," he muttered. "Even if he eats spirits."

 

With that, he leapt over to the bandit about to shank Lindow, materializing a mini snowstorm in his face. 

[Alaina]

While the girl had manage to get a good shot on the bandit's ribs, clearly denoted by a crunching noise that followed the hit, the man still was not ready to give up. With dagger in hand, the man had managed to plunge it into the girl's mace arm. Letting out a grunt of frustration and pain as the knife sunk in, the girl let go of the mace on reflex but grit her teeth. Looking straight at the bandit with an almost uncharacteristic expression of fury on her face, the girl clenched her fist as she jabbed her shield at the bandit's face. The bandit finally hit the ground, and when he did, he ended up clutching his face in pain, his nose broken. With both the adrenaline of combat and everything that had happened the past few days flowing through her, the Earth Chosen was not taking any chances as she let out an angered grunt and brought her shield back down on the man's face. With the blow having been dealt, there was yet another crunching sound, the man clearly now dead. Breathing heavily, the girl then paused for a moment as she felt the blood dripping from her shoulder, the pain starting to become more apparent in it. 

 

Meanwhile, seeing both the Water and Thunder Chosen struggling with their respective opponents, Ackrin silently approached the area. As the ice spirit had gone in to attack the bandit the Thunder Chosen was fighting, Ackrin turned to face the knife wielding bandit fighting the Water Chosen. The Earth spirit approached the side of the struggle, summoning another volley of rocks and shooting them out towards the bandit's head. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Still too far away...!"

 

Anis grumbled a little bit. She wasn't actually good at defensive battles - she was far more used in hunting and chasing her target, rather than fighting this way. On top of Ileca and on a field with freedom of movement, she would have been able to corner and eliminate the bandits easily one by one, but with her being holed into one position just to be able to get a clear shot at someone made it hard for her to communicate and deal with priority targets, especially the remaining crossbowman and the leader, who Lindow seemingly had engaged.

 

And where's Shirin at this vital moment? If the snake was here, she could have her deliver a message to Lindow to drag the leader into her range. Sighing, for the time being Anis moved her aim towards....no one was really on her range. Shaking her head, she instead grew a decently strong vine that she used to descend from the building she was in, and she immediately rushed towards Reinaan and the others, her sword ready. Her primary goal would be to check on them, but if there's any resistances left on the bodies lying on the floor...

 

Well, sometimes she wondered if Ileca would like to eat human meat. Could be a nice way to show her gratitude to her after what they went through lately.

 

---

[Andx]

The Draken's flaming hand had been caught by the intended target of his claws. The man was screaming as he attempted to the hold the deadly blades of fire back. He had tossed aside his weapon and devoted both hands to this effort. Reinaan instinctively tried to push harder at the resistance to drive his hand down and put the blades through the man's chest. The two struggled for a bit, the boy hoping to simply overpower the man. Meanwhile Kloqah was still fighting with the lizard while a bandit scaled her back. The lizard had attempted to shake the man off to no avail. Focusing on the man meant the lizard would kill her, focusing on the lizard meant the man would kill her. But before long all there was to worry about was the lizard again. The limp body of the man fell off the lizard's back. Anis' arrow had found its mark. And so the two lizards resumed their fanged grapple, neither side gaining much ground over the other.

 

Reinaan meanwhile wasn't managing to overpower the bandit but then he realized he didn't much need to. Still pushing his hand down he retracted the claws, the flames traveling along his arm into his chest where they gathered and swirled about. The trail continued down the Draken's right leg, spawning the long claw blades from the claws on the boy's feet. With a forceful kick, Reinaan thrust the flames coming off of his foot into the man's side. The blades pierced through, sending burning pain into the man's body as muscles were sliced and organs punctured. His grip on the boy's hand was quickly relinquished as he screamed. His hand now free Reinaan's claws followed through down into the man's neck. Blood sprayed as the boy withdrew his hand from the fatal blow. The man quickly stopped writhing as his life faded.

 

The Draken pulled his foot away and retracted the flames that made his claws back into his core. His breathing was a little heavy from the use of Ziiyol's power and the physical exertions. Looking to his side he saw Ryia finishing her opponent and then focused on Kloqah still locked in combat with the other lizard. Without another moment of thought he ran to the mount's aid, readying his spear still in his left hand. With a charge he rammed the spear's tip into the other lizard's leg. The creature cried in pain and released its bite on Kloqah's neck. But unlike Kloqah instead of turning on and attacking Reinaan, the creature ran away from the two reptiles, apparently no longer willing to fight.

 

"Are you okay?" he said as he put a hand to Kloqah's face and checked over her body for injuries. The lizard huffed and turned her head to the side as if not willing to respond to the question. The draken noticed the stab wound from earlier but she seemed okay to walk on it. "I told you to stay put you know. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if you'd listened." He said while running a hand over the bite marks from the other lizard. He took a moment to appreciate what he was saying. How often had his villagers told him something similar about rules he'd broken. With those memories in mind he couldn't help but smile at the creature. She didn't seem appreciative of the mini lecture. "But I guess it all worked out. C'mon, we gotta help the others." he said as he walked around her to her side, her eyes fixed on his tail as he moved. The boy climbed up on the mount's back and took his place on the saddle. Pointing his spear in Lindow and Keres' direction he called out to Ryia and Anis who was approaching them. The two lizards let out a unified snarl for a battle charge and Kloqah took off running despite the pain in her leg. The ice and earth spirits seemed to be coming to Lindow's aid so the Draken set his sights on the bandit engaging Keres. Then ally they had to do was handle the apparent leader of the group and keep the second rhino from destroying anything else. When they arrived at Keres' side, Kloqah would attempt to grab hold of the bandit fighting her and throw him off toward the rhino.

[Hälō]

Lindow reacted to the bandit's attack as with as much speed as his battered body would allow him. Though that wouldn't be nearly enough...

 

Watching in what felt to be slow motion as his opponent's weapon traveled towards his neck, Lindow found himself submitting to the end. "I supposed there are less interesting ways to go..." He thought to himself with a slight smirk.

 

However it seemed the Ice spirit was in favor of him living to fight another day...

 

Seeing the flow of the bandit's movements become disrupted by the sudden snow storm, Lindow quickly seized the opportunity to grip the man's wrist whilst pivoting to the side to avoid a lethal blow from the blade. Ignoring the pain from the new scratch across his chest, Lindow yanked the bandit forward with all of his might before swinging his own sword upwards across the chief's body.

 

He had managed to nearly eviscerate the chief now, but it seemed the bandit still had fight left in him. Lindow yelled in pain the other man bit down on his neck with all of his strength, causing the Thunder Chosen to drop his blade to the sand. All his wound's seemed to now demand be acknowledged at once, causing Lindow's gaze to grow vacant whilst he reached up and grabbed hold of the bandit's shoulder with all of his might.

 

"Poor... c-choice... for your last meal..." 

 

Fighting through the rhythmic explosions of pain, Lindow summoned the last of his strength thrust his right arm upwards toward the bandit's chest. Lindow eyes shined brightly with magic for a brief moment, and a high pitch crackling filled the air around the two fighters, as sparks danced about.

 

Lindow could just barely make out the tip of The Third Blade as it reached out towards the sky, having sprouted through the bandit's back like a flower of pure thunder magic. He felt the other man's maw tighten, then suddenly release completely as his body shook and twitched from the bite of The Third Blade's magic through his heart.

 

The pair held this position for only a moment before they both swayed and collapsed to the ground. With the side of his face buried in the sand, Lindow's empty gaze peered forward as his vision began to fade. It was extreamly painful to move any part of his body, but he managed to smirk before everything went black.  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The bandit and Gilly were locked in an almost comical embrace. The height difference, as well as the choice in weapons, was quite odd to say the least. The man had strength and leverage on his side...but Gilly had a sheep.

Who, ironically perhaps, rammed the bandit in the side.

 

The bandit's arms went wild as he struggled to stay standing, and thus he was wide open to be stabbed through the chest by Gilly's spear.

 

Keres was holding her own against her opponent but the man, in a burst of desperate strength, began to push the dagger closer and closer.

 

Even as he was pelted by rocks he didn't stop, only pausing to keep his grip on the dagger as it came within inches of Keres's throat.

 

Keres saw Reinaan making his charge. She couldn't tell if he would make it in time, however....And so Keres put what little strength she had to use. She forced the bandit's aim away as he thrust and let him stab her in the shoulder. Gasping in pain she released the magic on the water and the man could once more breath.

 

However he was then grabbed by a lizard and tossed to the side, right into the rhino, who, angered at being hit by something, stomped on the bandit and finished him off.

 

The rhino, noticing that none of the riders were alive, was confused as to what it was meant to do. And so, with the other rhino following behind, they made their way aimlessly out into the desert.

 

"Spirits...funked up didn't I." The leader of the group said, on the ground, bleeding from several locations. "Ah, at least I didn't go out like a slave." The light faded from his eyes and the last of the attackers died.

[spoiler=OOC]No map cause all the opponents are now dead! Rejoice and recover. I will note that after a while people will come out and cheer for the group, and the elder will have everyone brought to healers. They aren't powerful but they will be enough to get everyone back into a healthy state.

And Hollow. Message me when you're ready because I will have a thing for you.

 

[Alaina]

After the girl had defeated the bandit before her, her breathing continued to go at its rapid pace as she surveyed the battlefield, looking for what else needed to be done. The others seemed to be locked in combat, with the Thunder and Water Chosen seeming to be in the most peril. While the Draken and his lizard mount had rushed off to aid of the Water Chosen, leaving her to help the other out against the man who appeared to be the boss of this group of bandits. As she started to run towards them, her pacing started to slow as she saw each and every one of the other Chosen manage to bring their respective bandit down. As her run slowed to a walk, a look of realization crossed her face. The bandits had all been lying down across the ground, motionless, and the two rhinos that had charged in had started to wander out of the city. It was clear now that the battle was over, and though they were all covered in wounds, they had won. 

 

While a bit of relief crossed her face, she soon realized that Thunder Chosen was on the ground, not getting up. With panic starting to set in, the girl started to run towards the man, only to pause briefly as pain exploded in her shoulder. Grimacing, as it was only steadily growing worse, the girl started to fight through it as she made her way over to the Thunder Chosen. Bending down, her fears were only made worse as she noticed all the wounds that covered his body and checked to see if he was still alive. Though it appeared faint, he seemed to still be holding on, which prompted the girl to look to the Nature Chosen, shouting, "h-he needs help." 

[Andx]

To Reinaan and Kloqah's alarm, the rhino had stomped the man they had thrown off of Keres itself. They had both been ready to pounce on the man but it was no longer necessary. The two large creatures departed into the desert causing the Draken to look around the area. All of the bandits had been killed. Reinaan dismounted the lizard and walked over to Keres. The stab wound to the shoulder was fairly obvious but otherwise the girl seemed to be in okay shape. Lindow however was definitely not okay as Ryia called out for help for the Thunder Chosen who had passed out.

 

"Here let's get that patched up." he said, offering a hand to the Water Chosen to help her off the wall she'd been pinned up against. Remembering the battle was over, Reinaan released Ziiyol's power and soon the spirit reformed nearby and began giggling ecstatically.

 

"My, how exhilirating!" came the joyful voice. The Fire Chosen felt a light fatigue setting in from having used her powers but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He had to be sure the others got treated as he wasn't hurt. But soon another sound started. The villagers had slowly come out of their homes to see what had become of the Chosen. And to their perhaps surprise the bandits had all been slain. The cheers were loud and energetic. Fighting the bandits had never been an option to these people. To see so many defeated must have been truly unbelievable.

 

As if he knew they would be injured, the Elder had healers on hand for the Chosen who were soon at each of their sides checking them over for injuries. Reinaan refused any treatment stating he wasn't injured. It wasn't hard to argue given his state of undress would make any wound fairly obvious. The boy did however turn their attention to Kloqah, who's stab and bite wounds were still bleeding and needed addressing. The villagers were hesitant as she was one of the bandits' mounts however they knew she had assisted in the battle. And so with Reinaan at her side the healers cleaned and bandaged the wounds. The mount was largely cooperative but only as the Draken reassured her it was alright.

 

With his friend tended to, Reinaan let the lizard rest. And so he started hovering about, looking on as the other Chosen were treated. He was worried about Lindow who was the most damaged from the encounter. Ultimately he stood near Keres and kept his eyes darting from one chosen to another. He seemed tense, and he was. Because he knew if he relaxed he would want to sleep and he had to be sure everyone else would be okay first.

 

"Can't believe this worked out..." he muttered to himself as the fire spirit drifted lazily about, finally calming down some.

[Hälō]

BMG

 

"Am I dead?" Lindow's voice sliced through the thick silence as he peered out into the abyss that surrounded him. Looking down to his feet, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Hm," He was standing in a water source of some kind. Kneeling down to inspect the warm red liquid, the man dipped is index finger into the pool and removed it, scoffing at the realization that it was actually blood. "I figured Hell would be... warmer?" He called out into the darkness. 

 

"At least you're willing to admit that you're damned..." A voice sounded from behind him, causing Lindow to glance over his shoulder. Turning to face the owner of the voice, Lindow arched an eyebrow and took a step forward. It was as if someone had erected a mirror whilst he wasn't paying attention. Though there were some notable differences...

 

"I think I like us better with the eyepatch," Lindow sneered, causing the imposter to scowl. Though he was able to keep his expression level, he knew exactly who this person was. Joseph Artoria, Hero of the Abyss Seekers. "It gives us some character."

 

"You disgust me..." Joseph's voice was identical to his own, but why wouldn't it be? Watching his own expressing contort with guilt and anger was difficult even for someone like Lindow, but despite the odd sensation he felt in his stomach, he took another step towards his old self. "All the senseless killing..." Joseph spat as he approached, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "All the blood." 

 

Suddenly Lindow stopped is advance, sensing movement at his flank, the Chosen of Thunder quickly turned to meet the new arrivals. "Oh." He said immediately as two more people began to slowly rise from the pool of blood. "It's like a reunion in here!" He exclaimed in his usual manner, though it clearly lacked the normal amount of energy.

 

"Kha. Ayden." He addressed the two figures by name as they stepped towards him with blank expressions. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Now now...what is this, Shirin?"

"Something that will make our death less likely to come? I know how much you dislike this kind of weapons, so just let me or someone else use it rather than letting it to waste."

 

"...Fine. Please tend to Ileca right now while you're going. I will catch up with you soon."

The fighting had finally been finished, and now Anis was a bit busy with giving first aid to Lindow after Ryia directed her to him while addressing Shirin before the spirit left her. He was unconscious, and seeming to be mumbling about something. His wounds are quite concerning, and he had lost a lot of blood. Anis resupplied blood into him after copying the man's own blood to a few water bottles, and generated a few herbs and pieces of meat to regenerate the parts where he had been wounded. It was far from perfect, and she was somewhat unsure whether she's a bit late to tend to him or not.

 

The village healers soon came however, and Anis ended up letting them deal with the Thunder Chosen. She was quite drained too from using too much magic, and now she attempted to get a bit of rest by leaning to the nearest wall she could. She turned around to look at Keres, and decided to ask her a question.

 

"The beasts had all ran away. Should we do anything about them? There is always the possibility that these bandits would recapture them and attack this village once more, isn't it?"

 

---

[Sethera]

"Spirits...funked up didn't I." The leader of the group said, on the ground, bleeding from several locations. "Ah, at least I didn't go out like a slave."

 

"The spirits weren't on your side this time," Snow said calmly, cleaning his paws. He had gotten into the habit of acting the regular rabbit. "Not that you would know."

 

--

 

Gilly wasn't too injured, the biggest one being some scrapes and bruises from falling onto the ground on a charging ram. She grinned and gave a thumbs up to show she was fine. She did notice that Mr. Lindow wasn't feeling very well though, which slightly alarmed her. "Mr. Lindow!" she shouted, running over. "Don't worry, you're fine, you've got this!" she cheered, jumping up and down beside him.

 

Snow, meanwhile, looked at the strange Chosen with a little worry of his own. He didn't just step in and help the man only to watch him die. Thankfully, the Nature Chosen had stepped in, and then the healers.

 

Hob stood calmly on the sand, watching the rhinos leave. Such odd things. Would he be cooler if he had a horn on his nose too? But they looked heavy. Maybe he was better off just being a sheep.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

They had won.
 
Better yet they had won without casualty. Sure, the group was fairly beaten up, and Lindow was getting emergency healing, but they had all survived this fight. Perhaps they were beginning to fight better now. Too late for some but hopefully not too late for the world itself.
 
"Here let's get that patched up."
 
Keres squirmed uncomfortably as the Draken boy helped her out. This was not the treatment that any of the previous Draken in her life had given her. She wasn't stupid enough to assume they were all the same but...it still was a difficult memory to push back.
She nodded at him silently and calmed as he went to aid his mount.
 
Looking around it seemed that the group was patching themselves up. Lindow had been aided by Ryia and Anis before being helped up by the village's healers. She should be able to relax now, but, she didn't feel relaxed.
 
"The beasts had all ran away. Should we do anything about them? There is always the possibility that these bandits would recapture them and attack this village once more, isn't it?"
 
That wasn't it. Or, rather, that was only part of it. The rhinos she didn't worry about. "Unlikely...risk of injury outweighs reward." She said. That wasn't the problem. For her the problem was...they didn't know how many bandits were left. Surely they'd retaliate. And if the foe was stronger this time...they might lose somebody.
They couldn't risk waiting around for the bandits to strike again. They would be more prepared this time.
 
Keres sighed as Flux appeared at her side. "Nothing we can do right now is there?" They said to her.
Keres looked at the spirit. "Perhaps." That might be true. The first thing they had to do was rest up and then decide. With that simple decision out of the way Keres began the slow process of guiding everyone to the hut that Lindow was brought to. Pausing by Hob to pat the sheep on the head. "Did good job." She muttered to the animal.
 
Once there the healers looked over the rest of them as well, administrating minor healing to each of them. After a while, when the group had gotten a chance to recover, and Lindow stirred awake, having had a most unpleasant dream, the elder came into the hut with a pair of guards behind him. "Good evening." he said. "I'm happy to see you all doing fine. I wish to formerly thank you for what you've done. You could have left us here, or forced us to hide you, and we all would have been killed. You even spared the gate. What damage was done can be repaired but the bandits you defeated will never trouble us again."
A dark cloud came over his face. "But I fear it's not yet over. The bandit's leader is still alive, and he surely has more men, and with even just him alive our city will not be safe."
The elder went to his knees and bowed his head, causing the two guards behind him to give a start. He waved towards them to settle and spoke without looking up at the Chosen. "I implore you. Defeat the leader at his base. Free us from this yoke for good...." He looked up. "I cannot give you much but there is surely spoils at their camp. And...and I have some information that would be of use to you. I know it's craven of me to hide something like this from those who are tasked with saving us all but...I do not feel I have any other choice."
 
He waited for a few moments before, with the help of the guards, he stood up. "Whatever your response...I wish I had something I could give you as a reward for what you did. However, w-"

---

"So the spell does work...though, the accuracy is a bit...off. A mule isn't exactly an exciting catch. What to do with this..."

---

"...what was I...Oh, yes, that's right. There's something I could give you after all. It's not much but...hopefully it will help." He gestured for one of the boys to go and the guard left in a rush. Returning soon with something in tow. The group would have to leave the hut to properly see it but once they did they would find that their reward was a rather healthy, and slightly confused, mule. "This fine beast shall accompany you. It's a sturdy creature and, unlike many of its kind, it somehow has developed an immunity to the desert's heat. Even if you do not defeat the leader I want you to have him."
 
Keres blinked. There was something odd, something only she would have detected, about all this but...what?
Well it didn't matter. This gift could help greatly. They could carry more supplies now and yet another of them would be able to travel on a mount if need be. As for the elder's request...Keres wanted to help. But she didn't feel right in accepting this task unless the others would as well.

[Andx]

There was a building where Lindow had been laid down to rest afer having his wounds tended to. The rest of the Chosen slowly drifted towards it as the village healers finished their work with them. While waiting he had scavenged the battlefield for weapons, collecting javelins, swords, one of the crossbows and even one more of the explosive rocks. All of these he gathered up into a bag he would have Kloqah carry out. The others would be able to go through it all later for things they wanted. Only after being sure everyone else had been taken care of did the Fire Chosen allow the healers to look him over. Only one of them had ever had any sort of dealings with Draken so they relied on his opinion of the boy's health. He was admittedly perplexed at seeing a Draken outside of armor, or clothing in general, but went about his work. There were no pressing wounds though the injuries of the boy's left hand from the explosive rock concerned him. Reinaan's scales had already begun the process of regrowing to cover the exposed area but the healers worried the wound had never been properly cleaned. And so they washed and bandaged the boy's hand for him and were sure to clean whatever other stray cuts they found before sending him on his way with the rest of the group.

 

With that the Draken finally relaxed his tensed body as he sat with the others away from the blazing sun. Kloqah was resting outside, the others were okay. Even Lindow, the healers assured, would make it. No one but the bandits had died. That felt like a first for them. The Draken nearly fell asleep as the group waited but stirred as the Elder entered and Lindow even seemed to be conscious again. Though grateful for the victory the man noted there were yet more bandits who were likely to attack the village again, especially after today's losses. The boy was caught off guard by the elder kneeling before them and asking their help in defeating the bandits. Elder's never bowed or at least Reinan's village elders had never once bowed to him. Something about it seemed wrong but at the same time it conveyed how deeply the man cared for his people if was so willing to submit himself to them and their mercies. Apparently he had information he could share if they agreed which gave Reinaan the impression it was about the Demon Gate. But he didn't have long to podner that before the Elder did something unexpected and produced a mule for them, seemingly out of nowhere. Regardless of what the group decided, the Fire Chosen knew what he personally would do.

 

"Ziiyol and I will help you." he said addressing the Elder. "I can't speak for the others but we'll fight as many bandits as we have to so your home can be free." he said trying to look fierce and determined. It proved a little difficult given that now that his body had finally relaxed it wasn't particularly fond of the idea of changing that so sooon. As a result, whatever striking posture he tried to hold came across with much less dramatic effect. Regardless, the earnest desire to help was present.