Guardian of Nekops
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The hellhound backed away from the spikes of salt, then casually vomited all over them as it stared past them at Tel’rion, enraged and powerless. The creature spoke into his mind once more, its voice full of bluster and pride despite the spikes at its throat and the vast amount of salt water that soaked the red sands beneath its paws. The outcast bridled at the creature’s boasting, wanting to put the braggart in its place but holding his tongue instead, deciding on practicality as he rose wearily to his feet. The beast was leaving, after all, and petty insults and false bravado were not worth interrupting that. The Salt Mage rose to his knees and then stood slowly, wincing as the poor seared flesh of his torso protested the movement. He kept the three crystal shards in place as the former Champion of Fire bounded away across the sand, then allowed them fall where they may when it was far enough away to cease being a threat. Leaning heavily on his staff and still dripping from the mighty wave his own actions had brought down upon him, the magichemist turned his gaze to the rest of the arena, seeing who still stood between him and his prize. The Great Arena’s floor was nowhere near as pristine as it had been when last Tel’rion looked. A large patch of ice and the still, broken form of a Snow Warrior testified to that competitor’s end, while a disturbingly large smear of blood spoke of some nameless other. These were nothing, however, compared to the devastation of craters and sparkling red glass that roamed across the far end of the arena, a degree of damage mirrored beneath the array of rocks which were rising menacingly around a man by the Pillar of Wind. The Earth Champion, he was just as obviously responsible for much of this chaos that plagued the crimson sands, and bore watching… no less so because of the massive assault he seemed to be gathering in the air about him. It was as the Drakel’s mind reached down into the sand for his own treasure, the salt water of his wave that had already trickled several feet into the ground, that he noticed the creature running towards him. It was dark green, as were many of Tel’rion’s own people, but the coloring was different… deeper, softer, oddly calming in its own way. The beast was also not scaled, but rather covered in fur… quite surprising given its coloration. It stood on two legs, about as high as a man or a short werewolf… but it was no werewolf. There was really no telling what it was, but in truth such details hardly mattered. What did matter was that this new opponent was running towards the outcast Drakel, and that the Champion of Salt be ready for it when it arrived. The Salt Mage drove his staff of Dragonsalt deep into the ground for safekeeping and reached out with both hands, grasping for the lost waters of his wave and drawing them up. Slowly, massively, like a Titan waking from its slumber, his material rose from the earth, forming a large pool around him that reached first up to his ankles, then to his knees, then higher still, nearing his waist. “Why you insist on challenging me on my own turf I shall never know,” smirked Tel’rion, his arms trembling with the effort as the water continued to rise, quickly swallowing up his belly and showing no signs of running out of subterranean reserves, “but I am happy to oblige you nonetheless, my furry friend.” The magichemist took in a deep breath and held it as the Dragonsalt solution engulfed his head, a narrow but widening band of empty air forming between the bottom of his watery layer and the ground from which it had come. His arms continued to rise within the liquid, their pace steady despite the shaking, and before long the waterline had cleared his head and revealed his toothy, slightly unhinged grin to the world once more. “Let me show you,” Tel’rion belted out, his voice ringing clear and joyful across the Great Arena, “the true place, the true nature of Water.” His fists clenched high above his head as he turned his eyes to the watery heavens, squeezing his Dragonsalt as he would a giant sponge, and a torrential downpour of pure, fresh Water rained down to fall wasted upon the ground, drenching him once more.
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