The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The newcomer bandits stared at Gilly. Gilly stared back. They stared at Hob. Hob stared back. It seemed like they didn't plan on moving towards the group any time soon. Instead the other two crossbowmen who hadn't fired yet prepared to, aiming for Gilly, and letting loose a pair of bolts. One going for Gilly herself and the other heading straight for Hob.

 

Keres usually would have went to help the Halfling except that her attention had been drawn by Reinaan's charge.

As the lizard duo approached the bandit leader he sighed and stood up. Once they got closer he moved forward, attacking startlingly swiftly. He swung his blade in a short arc and cut into Kloqah's neck, causing a serious, but not fatal, wound.

 

With practiced ease the man sidestepped the javelin stab and ended up on the other side of the pair. He brought the sword up and down again, on a course to separating Kloqah's head from her neck.

 

Keres moved towards the pair, hurrying, though it was difficult in the robes, to get nearer. She began to form her water in a whip-like form, but as she lashed out towards the man the necklace around his neck flashed and the magic vanished before making contact. So it seemed even that was out...

 

The bandit clashing with Lindow grunted as the mace smashed into his arm. He dropped his weapon as the injury proved too painful to keep hold. However he simply pulled out a dagger with his other hand and thrust it towards Lindow, aiming to stab it between the man's rib-cage.

[Alaina]

As the hit from her mace landed solidly on the bandit's arm, the pain proved to be too much for the man to handle as the poisoned blade dropped from his grip. While the girl felt relieved that that was momentarily taken out of the fight, she then saw that his other hand had a dagger thrusting towards Lindow. Clenching her grip on her other arm, the girl then said, "a shield doesn't just block," with an odd air of confidence and vindication in her voice, and she punched forward with her shield arm. While the attack landed solidly on the bandit's head, it did little to stop the dagger thrust. 

[Sethera]

Gilly stared at the bolts heading her way, too dazed to respond, but Hob wasn't nearly so dazed. With a quick hop-skip, he managed get both himself and his rider out of harm's way, though one bolt came so close it almost clipped his side. He let out an annoyed baa at that.

 

"Now would be a good time for some magic," Snow replied.

 

"Didn't you hear the old man?" Gilly replied. "I can't use magic."

 

"Not on the boss, but you can on his men."

 

"Nuh-uh," the girl shook her head stubbornly. "Not happening. I can get through this with just my trusty spear."

 

"Other spirits save me from silly halflings," the rabbit moaned.

 

Meanwhile, Gilly threw a spear. It landed far short of the bandits. She pouted, then turned, seeing the leader aiming for Reinaan and his mount. She threw a spear at him too. "I hope this works, I hope this works," she muttered to herself.

[Hälō]

Seizing the opening created by Ryia, Lindow quickly swung his blade under the bandit's arm in a circular motion, whilst steping in and drawing his second sword in a vertical slash. His first strike found it's mark, though it wasn't enough to stop the bandit from leaning to avoid the second slash or prevent his dagger from slicing Lindow's side to leave a vertical wound. 

 

Wincing, Lindow pivoted on his heel whilst swinging his right blade horizontally. It was a light attack, meant to distract his opponent from the thrusting maneuver he was preforming with his left. The bandit took the bait. Swung his dagger to intercept the first slash, and was promptly stabbed by Lindow's second blade as the two other weapons collided near his face. 

 

Lindow allowed the blade in his right hand to be knocked from his grasp. Now using his free hand to grip his opponents arm, he lunged forward to further empale the bandit with his left blade as the pair tumbled to the ground. Still dazed from Ryia's shield bash, and now covered in wounds, the bandit could do nothing but weakly struggle as Lindow pinned him down and plunged a dagger into his neck.

 

Pulling his knife free from the corpse under him, Lindow returned it to his belt along with the blade that the bandit clutched in his grasp. 

 

The pain in Lindow's back throbbed with new vigor from his burst of sudden movement, and slice he received from the bandit cried out to join it. Realizing that continuing the fight like this would be unideal to say the least, Lindow turned to Ryia whilst reaching back to grab the bolt sticking out from between his shoulders.

 

"I need to... fix... this." The Thunder chosen said through gritted teeth as he yanked the bolt free from his flesh. Feeling blood begin to trickle down his back, Lindow quickly tossed the bolt to the side before bringing his right hand up to the entry wound. "It wont take long, but I'll need you to cover me." His eyes flashed with magic as both hands became engulfed in a golden aura. 

 

Bringing his left hand to the injury inflicted by the bandit's dagger Lindow breathed in as a soothing warms began to wash itself over his wounds. It was working, he could feel the magic repairing the damage. This was the power of the Light spirit. 

 

 

 

[Andx]

The bandit seemed unnaturally fast as he injured Kloqah's neck and then moved out of the way of Reinaan's attack. The man wasted no time in swinging his weapon again, his intent on killing the lizard mount clear. It angered the Draken to see the mount being prioritized as in the several fights with the bandits up to this point, Reinaan had focused on his actual opponents and not the creatures they were riding. Regardless he had no intention of letting the man have his way. Kloqah was rapidly slowing due to her injury, facilitating her own would be decapitation. But after missing the man Reinaan followed the movements as best he could and thrust the javelin forward again. This time not to attack the bandit leader, but to intercept his blade from killing the lizard. He urged Kloqah to run one more time with the reigns before letting go. The boy was ready to dismount and let her retreat to safety and fight the bandit alone should the block prove successful.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Deep breath. Deep breath.

 

Enemy reinforcement had arrived even after Anis shot down the bird. The situation had become more and more chaotic. Even Ileca started to look more and more agitated. Reinaan went directly towards the leader of the bandits, and Anis thought of helping him but that would leave her and more importantly Ileca open as her style of fighting didn't suit one to one combat. In which case, she would have to help Gilly and the rest against the reinforcements instead.

 

Crossbowmen. Her priority target. Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she imbued it with her magic and fired it towards her opponent's heart. The stone tip was laced with poison that would prove to be quite debilitating if not lethal if it managed to enter her target's blood stream. Before she made herself into a target, she moved to the side and fired to another crossbowmen before forcing herself to fall to the ground. She had instructed Ileca to separate from her for the time being as her partner was a prime target for crossbow fire. She instructed Ileca to stay around Lindow instead, who used the Light Spirit's magic to heal himself now.

 

"Well, come at me. I guess it's about time someone start drawing my blood for once."

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The bandit leader didn't seem to be upset at the loss of his two men. Partially due to being so focused on the Draken in front of him. The boy managed to prevent him from slaying the mount and said mount slipped away. Then a spear came flying towards him from across the battlefield. Thankfully for him it was a long distance and he was able to track its movements and avoid it as Reinaan dismounted.

 

"That is more like it." The leader said. "Come at me face to face, little Draken." He moved towards Reinaan and swung his blade. Even if Reinaan tried to block the leader would suddenly pull back his blade and, instead, ram his left elbow into the Draken's jaw. Once he did that he brought the sword down in an arc, aiming for Reinaan's neck.

 

Anis's first arrow managed to strike one of the crossbowmen in the arm, causing him to lose grip on the bolt he was reloading into his crossbow. Her second shot, however, flew past the other crossbowman's head.

 

When Gilly attacked the leader, one of the sword wielding bandits advanced towards her. He seemed confident but more careful than the others had been when facing Gilly.

The crossbowman who Anis had shot was busy taking the arrow out but the one that Anis had missed just finished reloading. He, along with the second swordsman, started to slowly advance towards the group. Meanwhile the third crossbowman took aim at Anis's prone form and fired a bolt.

 

Keres turned her attention from the leader, realizing that, despite the danger Reinaan was in, she couldn't do much to help. Being unused to the crossbow it seemed she had actually forgotten it with the mule when she had gone towards the leader.

She instead went towards Gilly and, as the swordsman advanced she sent out a whip of water towards him.

 

He cut across the air and tried to cleave the water in two. Instead the water wrapped around the blade and he had to take a few moments to pull his blade out, leaving him open for a few moments.

[Sethera]

Gilly pouted in disappointment that she didn't even get to see whether her spear would work against the leader or not. Was still too far away. She turned back in time to see that one of the swordsmen was advancing on her. Nudging Hob forward, the girl raised an ice spear in preparation, but paused when a whip of water wrapped itself around the enemy's sword.

 

"Hyaah! Even the water's on my side!" Gilly cheered, forgetting momentarily that Mute Girl controlled water. Charging forward, she thrust out with her spear. Hob lowered his horns, looking to attack the man as well.

 

Snow, meanwhile, had leapt off of his Chosen's shoulder to survey the battlefield. No matter what, his focus was drawn toward the Thunder Chosen, who had started to heal himself with a familiar golden aura. His nose twitched in distaste. Stolen magic, he thought. Gained through absorbing fellow spirits. Not for the first time, he wondered at the wisdom of keeping this man alive and nearby.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

STAB!

 

The arrow of the third crossbowman hit Anis straight on her left shoulders, planting it deep inside and dislocating her arm joints with the force it carried. Anis forced herself to roll to the ground to avoid making herself a target for further shots. Lying on the ground, she went to check on her wound's severity, and found out that it was worse than expected. Even if she used her magic to restore the tissues, it would take quite a while and the crossbow bolt would need to be dealt with first. In which case, there was one thing she could do for now, otherwise she wouldn't be able to operate her bow for the rest of the fight.

"Shirin, are you there?" Anis called out to her Spirit who had been unusually quiet the past two days.

"Well well, so you're stuck in this predicament, eh? So what do you want me to do, yank it out?" The snake slithered out from her pocket, observing the wound on Anis' shoulders in the meantime.

 

"I hate to say this, but yes. We don't have much time to spare, so even if I'd like a cleaner approach, that has to be done. I'll channel you a bit too in the meantime so I can immediately start the restoration process."

 

And so, what happened then was Shirin pulling out the arrow forcefully, causing untold pain for Anis as the wound became bigger due to it. Before she could lose too much blood, Anis used her magic to close off her blood vessels and had Shirin check to see whether there's any remains of the bolt left inside of the wound. Afterwards, she pulled a few herbs to close the wound, and started to use her magic so the restoration process could proceed. However, that would take a while, and the bandits were approaching.

 

"Alright, you're my spirit, and I can't move one of my arm now. I figure you can help me with killing these bandits?"

 

"Ooh, it's not like you to have these- wait, you already thought of installing a crossbow on your back for my use. You have a talent for thinking in an insane way despite your upbringing, Anis.

 

'course, I'll go help you with this."

 

Holding up her bow while having Shirin be the one to actually pull the arrow for her. Keeping it straight was quite hard, but after a few tries, she managed the set up decently enough, and had Shirin fire the first shot towards the crossbowman that shot her, before firing another towards the other crossbowman. She ducked immediately afterwards, crawling to get herself into a better position. This definitely reduced her accuracy somewhat, but from what she had seen, shouldn't be enough to make her reliabiity drop terribly.

 

"What, you don't credit me at all?"

"You're my third arm now, Shirin. Just fire at these bandits when I get to position and you'll be good."

 

---

[Alaina]

As the duo had defeated the bandit, Lindow seemed to need healing. Looking at him, the girl's eyes went wide as she saw a familiar light coming from his hands. Though she had trust in the eyepatched man, seeing him use the power of a different Chosen filled her with discomfort and aversion. Yet, swallowing these feelings down, the girl kept her shield up and awaited his restoration. As the bird mount had come to aid them as well, the Earth Chosen began to make her way to the side. Seeing that the other group of bandits were advancing on them and that the Ice Chosen was already in the middle of a fight, the girl started to close the distance between her and the ice chosen, both so she would be in position to get to any of the other team members that were locked in combat or go to intercept the coming ones. 

[Hälō]

With both Ileca and Ryia watching over him, Lindow managed to heal his injuries with the power of the light spirit.

 

Blinking slightly Lindow's eye narrowed at the realization that he had been hearing voices whilst he mended his wounds. Though he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, he was sure about one thing... they sounded quite pompous.

 

Rolling his shoulders to test his restored movement, the man quickly glanced around the battlefield to asses the situation. "Hm," His eyes finally rested on the duel between Reinaan and the bandit leader.

 

"Don't worry Reinaan, help is on the way." Lindow spoke in a thoughtful tone whilst stepping towards a particular item that rested in the sand. Plucking up the poisoned scimitar of the bandit he and Ryia had just slain, Lindow smirked as he began to quickly sink into his own shadow.

 

As he dove into the darkness, a faint whispering filled his ears. Paranoid ravings and indecipherable mumblings pestered Lindow, echoing in his skull until the moment he resurfaced.

 

Reappearing moments later in the shadow of the throne that the bandit leader had been sitting on when they arrived, the witch hunter wasted no time in tossing one of his daggers into the bandit leader's back whilst the man slashed at Reinaan.

 

Grunting in pain, the bandit leader faltered slightly, causing his initial swing to miss. Though in an impressive display of adaptability, he hastily kicked the young Draken square in the chest before turning to take swing at the new combatant.

 

Lindow was quick to use the throne as cover. "Nice reflexes!" He cooed as the other man's blade struck the stone throne with a loud thud. Smirking, the Thunder Chosen attempted to jump atop the throne to take advantage of the opening, but was shocked to find that the bandit leader had been ready. Feeling himself being dragged down by his ankle, Lindow grunted with annoyance before drawing one his daggers and violently pivoting his body mid fall.

 

The clang of steel resonated through the air as the two men's blades clashed. Having yanked his sword free from the throne and used it deflect Lindow's sudden attack, the bandit chief jumped backwards as Lindow rolled to his feet.

 

"Oh my..." Lindow smirked whilst bringing up his two weapons in the traditional Abyss Seeker stance. "What monstrous speed you have there, friend."

[Andx]

Reinaan found himself getting frustrated as the Bandit leader seemed completely capable of reading his movements. In his experience hunting in the mountains, most thing weren't able to predict what he would do and then fight him accordingly. Though most things in the mountains were prey animals or winged beasts, neither of which possessed the intelligence or speed of this man. The boy's spear had been successful in protecting his mount, and he landed fairly well on the ground after getting off her back to let her escape. A spear came flying at the leader's direction but he dodged it without issue before speaking to Reinaan. The boy focused on the words "little Draken" which caused a noticeable eruption of sparks from Ziiyol's power as some anger set in. He charged in only to see the man's sword already prepared to strike him. Just as quickly as the blade came, it retreated, and Reinaan felt the man's shoulder ram into his jaw. The boy's stance faltered as he stepped back a time or two in response. But the leader kept moving. His sword was coming down for the Draken's neck and he'd have no time to intercept this blow. He would have to hope his scales would hold up to the attack.

 

Thankfully, he didn't have to test that. The leader groaned in pain and just barely missed his chance at Draken decapitation. But before Reinaan could piece together what had happened he had a kick knocking the wind out of him as he fell back. While on the ground, Reinaan caught sight of Lindow who had apparently come to his aid. A blade was lodged in the bandit's back, a dagger of Lindow's no doubt. The two began a bit of a sword fight, during which Reinaan got his breath back and stumbled back to his feet. The leader's speed was impressive as Lindow was sure to note. The boy didn't think he could keep up with it particularly well himself. But if it provided Lindow with openings like it had already, then he was ready to attack again.

 

The bandit had backed off from Lindow, preparing his next move as Reinaan got up and moved a bit closer to his ally. "Heh... guess I owe you one now huh?" he said somewhat playfully. It was a bit difficult under the circumstances. HIs breath finally normalizing, the boy readied the javelin he still had hold of in both hands. It wasn't his own spear, so it felt a bit odd. But then it was also heavier and sturdier. Better suited to the task at hand. Having seen Keres' water fizzle out he knew Ziiyol's powers were off the table so it was going to have to come down to his skill with this weapon.

 

The boy charged forward, hoping to gain the leader's focus so Lindow could make another move. As he approached he prepared a thrust at the man's chest, using the length of the javelin in an attempt to keep himself out of harm's way if possible.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The bandit that Gilly attacked hadn't recovered in time to stop her attack. However her thrust, from such an angle, while it managed to hit the man in the chest and pierce through the cloth armor, wasn't enough to completely pierce through completely. Though a spear in the chest was still a good injury the man was still able to attack.

 

However as he had the thought to retaliate Hob made his attack, striking the man in the hip with a surprisingly forceful attack. He toppled over, clutching his side, and started to pull himself away hastily to avoid a follow up attack. As he did so he dug into his pouch and threw a knife at the Halfling.

 

Anis's attack, having been quite visible to the crossbowmen, was able to be dodged. However both of the crossbowmen had to dive to the ground to do so, and were thus in a prone position, and unable to counter attack quickly. They did begin to prepare to fire, while on the ground, however.

 

The third crossbowman had managed to work the arrow out of his arm. Hissing, he dug through his pouch and took out what looked like a charred root. Putting it in his mouth and chewing the man raised his crossbow and looked around for a target.

 

The other swordsman, meanwhile, ran straight for Anis. Even were she to fire an arrow at him he'd keep going and try and stab her while she was on the ground. Right before he reached her, however, he would be struck in the leg by a length of water and tumbled to the ground right in front of the archer. Even while grounded the man still tried to stab the woman.

 

"You're both talented." The leader said, wincing at the pain in his back, where the dagger lay. "But so young. Inexperienced. Your moves...I see them all!" As Reinaan attacked, the man struck out, his sword cutting the end of the javelin off and leaving Reinaan with what was now simply a pointed stick. "Yet you see nothing..."

 

The crossbowman fired at last. His bolt heading for Reinaan's back.

[Hälō]

"Heh... guess I owe you one now huh?" Reinaan address Lindow somewhat playfullly before charging towards their foe. 

 

"Help me kill this guy, and we're even." Lindow responded whilst observing the leader's movements.

 

"You're both talented. But so young. Inexperienced. Your moves...I see them all!" As Reinaan went to attack, the man used his sword to slice off the end of the javelin, leaving Reinaan essentially weaponless. "Yet you see nothing..."

 

Watching this, Lindow stepped forward to attack, but halted himself upon notice the bolt sailing through air towards the young Draken's back. "Look alive!" Tossing his dagger towards the bandit leader, Lindow moved towards Reinaan, shoving the Chosen of Fire out of the path of the bolt just before the bandit leader deflected the dagger and dashed in to attack. 

 

Lindow blocked the other man's slash horizontally whilst falling back on his left foot for support. Rather than rush in recklessly, he watched and waited for his opponents next move. The bandit leader was quick to oblige, backing off from the clash before letting loose a barrage of slices from various angles. 

 

Slowly getting a read on the bandit's movements, Lindow continued to block the first of the strikes with two hands, before suddenly growing bold and parrying one of the slash with a one handed swing. "Got ya!" Smirking, he quickly stepped into the other man's stance whilst drawing his dagger to slash at artery in the bandit's inner arm. This fight was over!

 

"Huh..." 

 

Lindow eyes widened in shock as the bandit suddenly tossed his own sword high into the air and grabbed the blade of the incoming knife in the same motion. Before he could react, the Chosen of Thunder was struck in the face with a quick jab just before he saw the bandit catch the sword. "N-No way!" Baffled, Lindow could do nothing as the arm that held his dagger was thrown to the side, and the hilt of the bandit's sword came slamming down into the side of his face. 

 

"Gah! Y-You're kidding me right?!" Lindow spat with a mouth full of blood. Tossed into a spinning state from being yanked and clubbed, he did his best to use his momentum to his advantage by pivoting his body and throwing a desperate twirling side kick towards the bandit's solar plexus with all of his strength. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"You...!"

 

Being unable to properly shoot in time, as Anis was faced with the swordsman on the ground that were trying to stab her even after Keres managed to drop him to the ground, she ended up having to channel her magic throughout Shirin, and had it shot the bandit on his eyes with a stream of snake venom. It would be quite damaging and blinding, and Anis was able to get out of the range in time and pulled her own short sword to decapitate the swordsman while he was being blinded.

 

Not even bother to pick up her sword after she did the deed, she immediately got herself to aim at the groundbound crossbowmen again, and fired another shot at one of them. Without their mounts, they should be less able to dodge the attack. Her shoulder was still healing and she still weren't able to move the arm, so she still relied on Shirin a lot.

 

"You look awfully distressed while suffering an injury you should be familiar with."

 

"Oh, just stop speaking now Shirin, it's just been a while and I'm getting pretty old. Hm... maybe I should have Ileca teach you the sensation of being digested. Spirits would still be able to feel it when they're in a corporeal body, don't they?"

 

---

[Sethera]

Gilly squirmed around on Hob trying to avoid the knife throw, but by herself she wasn't fast enough to do so.

 

Fortunately, Hob was.

 

The sheep jumped to the side right in time. Just as he did so, Gilly jumped off from her mount, sailing over the knife, and diving down toward the bandit. Her spear pointed down.

 

"Hyaah!" she cried. "You won't get away so fast, Mister Bully Bandit!"

 

Snow watched the battle with the leader. So far, it wasn't going so well. But he chose not to interfere, idly wondering whether the Thunder Chosen would survive, and whether that would be such a bad thing.

 

The rabbit shook his head. No, they still needed him. However, if the risk outweighed the reward, then...they would see.

[Andx]

The bandit leader mocked Reinaan's inexperience as he severed the point of the javelin from the shaft in one simple movement. It left the boy confounded and his eyes widened at the display in front of him. The surprise made him less aware of his surroundings than he otherwise would have been, and as such he never heard the bolt on course to hit him in the back. It frustrated and confused him to have an opponent he couldn't manage to hit. But a call from Lindow called the Draken's focus back into his environment. Before he could react he had been pushed out of the way by the Thunder Chosen who had then gone on to attack the leader again. The boy struggled to keep his balance as he was moved by the shove. He heard the bolt fly past and only then realized what Lindow had done. He watched as the two carried out a fast paced exchange of blows. It seemed like Lindow had the upperhand until the bandit threw his own weapon into the air to catch an attack. The man then caught his own weapon and used it to knock Lindow off of him.

 

As the Thunder Chosen was sent reeling back he managed to position himself to deliver a kick in at the bandit's chest. The attack landed fairly well despite the awkward positioning. The leader grunted in pain but still made a move. With his free hand he grabbed hold of Lindow's ankle. The force was impressive and he was attempting to snap the man's ankle if he could manage it. Reinaan held what was left of his weapon, nothing more than a stick with a point like that of the guards of the desert village. The Draken moved quickly, approaching the bandit from behind. With all the force he could he rammed the end of the stick into the bandit's back. Preoccupied with Lindow as he was, he failed to see the attack coming. He roared in pain as the shaft lodged inside of him. Reinaan quickly released it just in time for the man to drop Lindow's ankle and turn behind him. There was a look in the man's eyes. Something akin to that of a predator in a blood frenzy.

 

With a quick motion the man slashed at Reinaan with his sword. The Fire Chosen was now defenseless with the stick lodged in the man's back. He'd have to rely on the armor his mother gave him. He held his hands up ready to catch the man's arms. And while successful, the blade had already carried itself down well into the boy's right shoulder. A stinging pain shot through the whole of that side of his body, causing him to instinctively dig his claws into the flesh of the arm they held onto. The boy attempted to pull down on the limb, hoping to drag the man to the ground but he proved steadfast. With his free hand he grabbed hold of Reinaan's snout and began squeezing with all his might attempting to crush the boy's face. The Draken was snarlying in pain from the blade and from the man's grip but still he tightened his grip on the man's arm more and more, digging his claws in deeper. He thrashed his head about attempting to bite the man's hand but it proved largely ineffective. But still he was determined to hold the bandit down like this as long as he could, knowing he had to hold out for Lindow to deliver a decisive blow to the man while he was occupied with him.

[Alaina]

The earth chosen stood in the center of most of the action, being close enough to everything going on to be able to aid who she chose. While the Nature Chosen had been attacked by a bandit, her aid did not seem necessary as the older woman seemed very capable in defending herself. That meant she was left to aid either the Ice Chosen with her bandit, or the two Chosen who were fighting the bandit leader. While the two did look to be in need of aid, more so than the ice chosen, the girl was reminded of her second encounter with the bandits and the one she had just recently fought. They were nimble and skilled, being able to deftly maneuver around her and leaving her helpless. This man seemed even more so, and as such, while she wanted to help she felt she'd be little more than a liability to the duo's effort. As such, she rushed over to aid the ice chosen. 

 

While the hafling dove with her spear at the ready, the blow merely connected with the desert sand underneath. While the bandit was on the ground, the Earth Chosen did not want to leave anything to chance with these bandits. Pulling up her mace, the girl attempted to coup de grace the bandit by smashing her mace into him, towards the chest rather than the head as she did not wish to give the man the opportunity to dodge. While he had brought his arm to defend against the attack, it was clear that he was somewhat stunned from the pain, with which the girl used to swing her mace in an uppercut, striking the man's chin. While the blow was significant he was still alive. Grimacing at the girl knew what she was going to do was brutal, yet all the same, she knew that these men would take any opportunity presented to them. Readying her shield, the girl smashed it into the man's face, unable to see the results of what she had done due to the metal covering the man's face before looking away. 

 

He was not moving nor making a sound, and as such she knew that she had done what was needed to be done. Turning to the Nature Chosen she shouted, her voice far more authoritative than usual, "go and help them," she gestured to the two fighting the leader, "we can handle the rest." Between the spellcaster nature of both the water and ice chosen, and her own deficiencies as a fighter, the girl figured the Nature Chosen was the best to aid the others. Turning to face the ice chosen, worried how the halfling was fairing with them having had to fight by themselves this whole time, the girl stretched out a hand to help them up with her tone going back to normal, saying, "um, Gilly, was it? Are you, uh, doing alright?"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

There was a smile on the bandit leader's face as he felt the blood trickle from his arm and onto the claw of his opponent. Something seemed to be shifting in his mannerism and, with that, his strength seemed to be slowly increasing. Reinaan would find it hard to keep to his feet and, in fact, the Draken's knees would buckle from the force the man was exerting on him and he would be brought down onto his knees, with the leader clutching his face still. The leader wasn't able to drive the sword any deeper and, due to Reinaan's hold, was forced to hunch over as well, but  he was mere moments from breaking some of the Draken's bones. "I have survived more injuries than you can imagine. And all of them just served to make me stronger. I will show you the power of controlled fury!"

 

One of the prone crossbowmen would find himself with an arrow going straight into his shoulder and, due to the angle, pushing in through towards his heart. He shuddered and breathed his last as he collapsed.

 

The other crossbowman regained his footing and, unsure what to do, panicked and shot at Lindow, whom was in a position to threaten his leader.

 

The last crossbowman was reloading his weapon when he found his wrists wrapped with water and, with a tug from Keres, his face slammed into the sand.

[Sethera]

Gilly grunted when she overshot her throw, falling into the sand instead of falling into the bandit guy. She rolled to the side, not wanting to get hit from behind, when she heard a crack followed by another one. Turning around, she saw the bully getting clocked over the face by Pinky. The pink-haired girl turned to the boring adult and shouted with a lot more gusto than her usual murmurs. "Go and help them," she gestured to the two fighting the leader, "we can handle the rest." She then looked at Gilly, stretching out a hand to help her up. She also started doing that lame whispering thing again for some reason, "um, Gilly, was it? Are you, uh, doing alright?"

 

The halfling took the hand before bouncing upright. "Of course I'm all right! Who do you think I am? I'm the great Gilly!" she jabbed a thumb into her sternum before tilting her head at the girl. "But wooow," she drew out the word, "Didn't know you had it in ya, Pinky," she gave her a thumbs up. "And you don't need to worry about me. I'm pretty good at beating up bullies!"

 

Snow was distracted from his monitoring of the boss battle by those words. "Really?" his voice rose in disbelief. "Do you really believe that? Never mind, of course you do," he shook his head. He quickly recovered when he heard the sound of a crossbow bolt being released, and shouted: "Watch out!" toward Lindow.

 

Hob, meanwhile, baa'ed and motioned for Gilly to get on his back again, which she ignored, of course.

[Hälō]

"I have survived more injuries than you can imagine. And all of them just served to make me stronger. I will show you the power of controlled fury!"

 

This wasn't good. Watching the struggle between the Chosen of Fire and the bandit, Lindow brought himself up to his feet and prepared to rejoin the scuffle. Though before he could step forward, his attention was stolen by the voice that he recognized as Snow. 

 

"Watch out!"

 

Shifting his gaze to the right in time to see the crossbow bolt sailing his way, Lindow glanced at the spirit of Ice and nodded in thanks. Smirking, the Chosen of Thunder returned his attention to the bandit leader as his shadow manifested itself and spread it’s arms wide to serve as a shield for it’s master.

 

Dashing forth just as the bolt plunged into his shadow’s chest, Lindow swung his sword in a horizontal slash towards the bandit leader’s back with the intention of slicing him in two with the poisoned blade. 

 

The older man was forced to release Reinaan’s face to counter. Grunting, he swung his arm backwards in an attempt to knock the blade away, succeeding, but suffering a cut across his arm in the process.

 

“Got ya…” Lindow’s smirk widened as he the bandit pulled his blade free from Reinaan’s shoulder, causing blood to spurt into the air. Ducking under a hasty swing from his opponent, Lindow swept his blade towards the man’s legs and watched him maneuver backwards to avoid being crippled.

 

Intent on keeping the bandit on his toes, Lindow quickly tossed his dagger towards the man before drawing his second sword. Much to his glee, the poison appeared to be starting to take effect…

 

Easily knocking away Lindow’s dagger, the bandit leader gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles as the arm that Lindow had nicked with the poisoned blade began to spasm slightly.

 

“Argh, that’s a burn I haven’t felt... In a while”

 

“Don’t worry, when I’m done you’ll never have to feel it again…” Lindow was already closing the distance. “Or anything else for that matter!” He met the bandit with a cross slash, that was just barely intercepted in time. Now close enough to see the veins pulsing in the man’s face, Lindow quickly ripped one of his swords from the struggled and brought it around to slice at the man’s ribs. 

 

Though it seemed that the bandit still had some fight left in him. In a quick motion he skillfully grabbed Lindow’s elbow to keep it from extending. The pressure from the man’s grip was inhuman, and Lindow could instantly feel that the bone in his right arm was on the cusp of breaking.

 

Growling, Lindow hastily pulled backwards and attempted break free from the man’s grasp with a kick, even going as far as to slide the blade he was using in their clash down towards the arm that was crushing him. Although the kick was largely ineffective,the pain from having the curved blade plunged into his arm seem to be enough to force the man to release his grip.

 

Stepping to his back leg, Lindow glanced down at his right arm as he heard his blade clamber to the floor. Though he was no doctor, he didn’t need to be one to see that the limb had been damaged and now hung numbly at his side.

 

Meanwhile the bandit shouted in pain. His eyes began to bulge and foam started to leak from the corner of his mouth. Nonetheless, he continued the battle despite the clearly painful effects of the poison. Stepping forward, the bandit leader swung his blade downwards towards Lindow with monstrous speed.

 

With little time to react, and only one arm, Lindow hastily stepped backwards threw up his own blade in a defensive stance

 

[Andx]

Locked in his embrace with the bandit leader, Reinaan found himself failing fast. The man only seemed to grow stronger the longer the bout continued, while the boy's strength was failing from the sword in his shoulder and the constant exertions. The Draken's knees began shaking and ultimately he fell to them under the man's strength. The pressure on his face was unbearable, and the entirety of his body felt ready to snap in two as the man explained the source of his power. As he became injured and angry he could channel this into strength. A fascinating ability but not one the boy would appreciate under the circumstances. Relief came suddenly as the man released the boy's face. Straining to look at what had happened, Reinaan caught sight of Lindow once again engaging the bandit.

 

The man was attempting to free his sword arm, which still had all eight of the boy's claws digging tightly into it. As he pulled the sword free of the Draken's shoulder, Reinaan felt his whole body convulse in pain. This caused his grip only to tighten but ultimately the man pulled his arm free of the claws, tearing the flesh in the process. Already on his knees, the boy fell forward, catching himself with his left hand so as to not hit the ground. He attempted moving his right arm and found it was possible. But the deep wound seemed to cut all the way to the bone. Moving that arm in general was going to prove extremely painful. Other than that nothing felt broken as he slowly started moving his other limbs, neck and tail. Lindow's aid could not have been timelier in that regard. He stumbled to his feet as he watched the fight continue.

 

Lindow had landed a few slashes, one of which in particular seemed to be causing particular pain the bandit. It was no ordinary wound from a weapon, there had to have been poison involved. Another attack and the Thunder Chosen had planted a blade in the bandit's arm. The bandit began shouting and foaming at the mouth. The poison was taking quick effect but he seemed determined to carry on despite it. He was going for another attack but seemed fixated on Lindow. Each interaction seemed to batter them both, but he continually ignored the one not immediately attacking him. Reinaan intended to take advantage of the fact to try and end this.

 

The boy gathered what energy he had and ran towards the bandit from behind while he attacked Lindow. The Thunder Chosen was able to parry the blade, however the force of the swing alone knocked the man back from where he had stood. Taking his chance, Reinaan leapt toward the man, successfully wrapping his arms around him despite the man's movements and reactions. With a snarl he managed to bite at the man's neck, however they weren't able to sink in as deeply as he had hoped and instead he merely tore away a wound which the boy found himself spitting out in disgust as he struggled to stay on the man's back. The boy kicked at the bandit leader's back in an attempt to stay on. His injured right arm wasn't going to hold for long and he wanted to deal a more decisive blow here if he could manage it. This proved effective, but perhaps not in the way the Draken had been hoping. The man began falling backward with the Fire Chosen still on his back.

 

The two fell to the floor but Reinaan hit the ground first with a thud and served a rough scaley cushion for the bandit. His tail was going to be sore for a week but he'd complain about that later. There was a sound of shifting sand as the bandit's sword fell to the ground. Reinaan attempted to claw at whatever he could on the man but soon found both of his wrists firmly grasped. The grips were so strong it seemed a marvel his wrists didn't snap on contact. The man began rolling, attempting to better position himself to throw the Draken off of him. And so began another test of strength, one Reinaan knew he couldn't win. Regardless he exerted himself all he could to keep the man from getting back to his feet as he called out to his ally the Thunder Chosen to finish it.

[Alaina]

As the girl had helped Gilly back to her feet, she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the nickname, "Pinky." With a bit of a confused look she just said, "um, thanks?" As Gilly then seemed to be brimming with confidence, the girl as both impressed by wherever they found all this gusto from but couldn't help but still feel worried for her sake. All the same, she didn't linger on it for too long and merely began to face her mark. As Lindow had seemed to be able to guard against the bolt by himself, she didn't need to guard for him. As such, she started to make her way over to that crossbowman, charging across the sand. However, as the sand had slowed her pace down, the man had been able to reload the crossbow before she had been able to make her way to him. Slowing down her pace, the Chosen had her spirit change the feel of the terrain around her, acting more like stable ground then it did sand. As she continued going further, she noticed that the man had started to back up towards the other bandit, whom the Water Chosen had been dealing with. Trying to cut him off, the Earth Chosen summoned her wall between the two of them, causing the crossbowman to eventually bump into it. With nowhere else to run, the man fired his weapon, to which the girl attempted to side step. Holding up her shield as she did, the bolt was deflected by the metal, only for the girl to then continue her charge forward. As the man tried to stop her by throwing his crossbow at her, the Earth Chosen merely parried it aside with her shield. However, she stopped suddenly as she heard the voice of the Water Chosen saying, "look...o..." followed by a coughing fit. Both worried for the Water Chosen and warned,  the girl stopped all of her movement forward, only to feel a sudden sharp pain course through her leg.

 

Buckling down from the pain, but holding her ground, the girl looked down to see a crossbow bolt that had found its way into her leg, presumably from the bandit beyond her wall. Grimacing through the pain, though, the girl managed to stand back up, and hobble towards her mark, with the Earth Spirit merging with her to increase her defensive prowess. With no ranged weapon, the bandit had drawn a dagger out, ready to scuffle with the girl as she attempted to shield bash towards him. The bandit dodged deftly to the side, attempting to stab underneath her mace arm, only for the girl to pull back and thrust her shield in front of the path. She winced as the pain in her leg was becoming more apparent, but continued her fight. Shoving the man's arm away with her shield, she then smashed her mace into his ribs, causing the bandit to let out a pained cough and back up a bit. However, following her attack, the girl merely struck with her mace once more. 

 

In a ditch effort to stop her, the bandit caught her mace, trying to yank it free from her grasp. While she was unsure if she could've beaten him in a contest of strength, especially with the pressure it was putting on her leg, and so she merely gave it one hard pull back,only to let go of it. As the man was suddenly thrown off by the sudden shift of force, the Earth Chosen then sent an uppercut with her shield to the bandits chin. With the sudden shock going through him, the man dropped the mace and knife he was carrying, staggering back. Clenching her fist, the girl punched the bandit in the face, causing him to topple over and fall to the ground, not moving. Bending over, the girl picked her mace back up, wincing in pain as she slowly walked past the wall to find the other bandit. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"we can handle the rest."

 

"Understood, I'll trust the rest to you."

 

The rest was complete chaos. Ileca had cautiously distanced herself as Lindow and Reinaan fought the bandit leader head on, looking for a good time to strike that never really came. Anis herself finally was able to start feeling her arm again, and once Ryia had told her to focus on helping the one against the leader, she quickly moved around to get into a good position. By the time she was able to clearly see what was happening with that battle, she saw that Reinaan was attempting to keep the bandit leader from getting back up on his feet, The position made it hard for her to aim as the bandit leader was constantly struggling in a way that would endanger Reinaan. She had Shirin to load another arrow, but she hesitated on shooting, waiting for a clearer moment to at least disable him enough for anyone over there to finish him off.

 

And so, a shot was fired.

 

A completely ordinary shot,  as Anis hoped that it would hit the leader near his upper body area or arms. If Reinaan was caught by the attack, she was ready with a knife to immediately enter the battle in person to protect him from her mistake. Not that she had fully trusted a Draken or anything, but a mistake would always be something to atone for.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Being the last of the henchmen left, the crossbowman had to question his life decisions. His allies, besides their leader, were all dead. And he was currently trapped in some sort of sphere of water that was around his head. He was holding his breath to keep from inhaling the liquid but it wouldn't be long before he passed out.

And so he did the only thing he could think of. He surrendered, gesturing wildly that he didn't want to fight anymore.

 

Keres felt terrible about Ryia's wound. She had tried to warn her that the crossbowman was recovering from his fall but her voice failed her near the end and only caused Ryia more distraction.

 

She intended to make it up to her by stopping the man who had attacked her, using what energy she had left to hold a bubble of water in place around the man's head. She wasn't sure how long she had until her magic gave out so she was happy to see the man surrender. She retracted the magic and watched as the man fell to his knees, taking deep breaths in.

 

The leader was in even more dire straights than his ally. However he seemed to be taking it much better. Even as Anis's arrow struck him in the chest he didn't seem to give in. In fact he then had a burst of strength as he pulled Reinaan's arms away from him and, with a roll, got back to his feet while grabbing his sword again.

 

He stood up, shakily, and began to chuckle. He looked up at the group with a savage gleam to his eyes, a wild smirk, blood leaking from the corner, on his mouth.

"You think you've won, have you?" He said as he clutched his sword. "You think you've bested me, who has controlled this land for years?"

He stood up straighter.

 

He crouched and leapt into the air, moving swift as a gazelle, and landed by Lindow, bringing his sword down in an arc and, even if Lindow moved, cutting a deep gash across his chest. He then followed it immediately with a horizontal swing which would disembowel the man if it weren't stopped somehow.

 

The crossbowman, seeing his leader's actions, and seeing Keres turn to look at the sudden change in the battle in that direction, got to his feet and buried his dagger into Keres's side.