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Mirai -> RE: =EC 2011= Finals Arena (7/26/2011 19:17:14)
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With her supple right boot shifting on the arena’s scarlet sands, Salina executed her spin with impressive precision, her steel edged kick and mithril blade slashing in near parallel through the air to connect with… absolutely nothing.
The ice mage grinned at her, having hopped quickly back from her slashing blades. “Come love, you'll have to do better than that” he taunted. The silver bangled youngster was also virtually unscathed by the metallic orb Salina had spat at him, a hiss of pain as it scraped skin from his shoulder having been her only reward for the projectile assault.
Hardly a surprise that my little pellet missed- aiming on the spin was always going to be as much luck as judgement, she thought to herself. While it was unfortunate that her attack had not been as effective as she'd hoped, she was not disheartened. Any experienced warrior knows that if you roll the dice often enough, you eventually get snake-eyes. She grinned, recalling the mantra she had once drummed into her troops- death doesn’t just wait in carefully constructed plans: it also lurks beneath a tangle of roots to snare the legs, a distraction that draws the eyes at the wrong moment.
Ironically, in that very instant the ice wizard faltered back a further step, his gaze apparently drawn to events elsewhere in the chamber. Unfortunately, Salina was unable to take advantage of this momentary opportunity. Preoccupied with retracting her left boot blade, and shifting her centre of gravity to avoid tumbling to an embarrassing fall on the circular chamber’s dusty floor, the cream cloaked champion of wind had no opportunity to follow up her spin with a stabbing right bladed thrust. Instead, she was forced to simply let her opponent backpedal further, evidently keen to put some more distance between his frosty hair gel and her deadly blades.
Not necessarily a bad thing- my left shoulder is still smarting from the force of his earlier spear attack. Now, if I could just get him to keep retreating, and shift a little to his left, perhaps he’ll fry himself on the pillar of energy.
Unfortunately her respite was short lived. An instant later a large blue book appeared to the athletic young sorcerer’s right hand side, floating in the air to apparently circle behind her back, its voluminous pages rapidly flicking and whirring away.
She frowned, wondering what the mage had in mind. Ok- that’s an odd weapon of choice. What’s he going to do- press me to death?
Though she initially assumed the conjured giant tome to be a weapon of attack, from the focus of the mage’s eyes it seemed he was intent on reading texts while simultaneously fighting with her. Despite this, even as he began to chant off a new song of sorcery his left ice chain lashed out at her own left blade, while he brought his staff scything up and across, diagonally slashing toward her torso.
Hell’s teeth- he’s not serious? She blinked, barely able to believe the audacity of the mage. And I thought us girls had the monopoly on multi-tasking... reading and fighting at the same time, directing attacks at your foe with only your peripheral vision? She grit her teeth, wondering at what motivated such actions. Either sheer insanity, or genius on a scale I’ve never witnessed before. But there was no time for psychological analysis. Focus girl- deal with the direct attacks first... worry about whatever madness he’s concocting second. Suddenly her teeth flashed white, recalling his last words to her. Oh, and return his taunts. Have to do better than that do I?
“Nonsense honey, a girl likes to have some play before closure. Or do you find that stamina is a problem for you, that you end prematurely?”
Her grin deepening, Salina raised her blades high and hurried several paces back and to her left, content to let the mage’s staff simply slash through the air before her. At the weapon’s passing she felt a sudden chill, and made a mental note to beware its evidently sorcerous forging. The icy chain was a different matter, its six foot length making the octopus-like tentacle significantly more difficult to evade. Serpent like, it shot forward, its glistening length arcing toward her left blade. As the unnatural limb grasped for her weapon, she instinctively brought the edge of her right sword smashing down upon the length of the ice-cable, trusting that Tairon-forged mithril would prove more stable than the mage’s sorcerous crafting.
A hammer would have been more helpful here she reflected. Best case scenario the chain smashes, stretched between my left sword and his shoulder, depriving him of a weapon, maybe putting him off balance, and giving me a few ice shards to use my wind magics on. Her grin deepened, a twinkle in her eye. More likely, it just whacks his grasp from my left blade a bit longer, giving me a bit longer to flex my shoulder back into some semblance of normal working order again. Unconsciously, her grip tightened on her mithril blades, fingers whitening as they pressed against silver metal. Worst case scenario… the chain twists, grabs both my swords and impales me on my own weapons. Well… let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
At that moment a horrific wail roared from the other side of the arena, a bloodcurdling scream that was horribly familiar to the wind witch. Distance protected her from the ear-drum shattering effect of the sonic blast, though it gave Salina sudden insight into the torment she must have visited upon her fellow combatants in Sky arena with her eldritch whistling. But it wasn’t the roar itself that struck sudden chill to the former coven mistress’ heart, so much as the memory it evoked, of her former foe and master, Xinguish, triumphant in the temple of Feng-Kai. In that moment, Salina herself had cowered before his might, praying that her plan would work as designed, and trick the monster into banishment within the abyss once more. Fortunately it had, but the memory of Xinguish’s echoing laughter within her mind, of visions of a world cracked with fire and brimstone, of images of towns and cities melting into magma… a year later those memories still awoke her in the night, cold sweat upon her brow. As a result, Salina had a good idea of what manner of beast made such a noise:
Demon.
Had an observer been looking closely, they might have seen for the briefest of split-seconds panic in the former captain’s eyes, might have sensed terror pierce her normally confident and care-free façade. But an instant later the coven mistress’ iron-control had reasserted itself, even as her blade whistled down toward the ice-chain.
Even so, the grey eyed warrior breathed deeply, taking in a panic fuelled breath of oxygen. Once she had dealt with the chain that breath might come in useful. Indeed, she planned to unleash her wind magics again, intending to blast her immediate opponent backwards, propelling the ice mage towards the column of electric energy, where he would hopefully find himself electrocuted in an elemental lord’s manifestation. In the event that the ice-whip shattered, the icy fragments would form the tip of her attack, buoyed along by the rage of her sorcerous gust. For now though, her gaze was directed solely on the chain.
Focus on the tentacle she berated herself. Then deal with the wizard, then his book, then the spell he’s currently casting, and then the small matter of what I strongly suspect is a demon bellowing on the other side of the arena. In spite of the adrenaline already pounding through her slim frame, her heart momentarily beat faster at the thought of confronting her nemesis. But start with the tentacle.
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