Eukara Vox
Legendary AdventureGuide!
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He isn’t going to get away with just walking away. Not while I am capable... Snjór bounded off towards the hunter after things settled and her ears stopped echoing the blast. “Tharala, he is ripe for the picking. We should take him now while he is shaken!” Tharala swallowed, nodding and moving forward, albeit, at a slower pace. She heard the man shout something about his eyes, and knew that the ringer had served its purpose well. He was probably staggering around blindly at the moment. She certainly had the first time her father had used one on her. It seemed cruel to others, but her father had demonstrated the effectiveness of the tool to Tharala by setting one off in her room once. He had said the only way she could respect what they could do was by experiencing it directly. It was not pleasant. The sensory overload of the light, and the ringing in her ears, had made her violently ill. Snjór smiled to herself as her ears picked up his whining, his anger, his feeling of panic. They were glorious sounds. Sounds of weakness... and the indicator that her strike would be true and complete. She needed this to work. She needed him to fall by her blade. Her blood pounded in her ears as she anticipated the kill. Just as she leapt to his back, the air crackled with his magic, and power from somewhere else. Tharala slogged forward, unable to keep up with her feline friend’s bounding speed on the ground. She was clambering up the barrier of trees when the first attack hammered into them, shaking the downed timbers and branches. The skyfisher squawked in surprise, falling awkwardly and letting out another cry when her wing impacted the trunk of one of the trees at an angle. She rolled, pulling her wings in hard as she struggled up to one knee, and simply gaped at what she saw. The man, and his previously barely visible attacks, each illuminated and subsequently swallowed up by coruscating prismatic lights. This was... impossible! Snjór whipped her tail around as she contorted her spine to redirect her flight as much as possible to avoid being swallowed up by the act of, what she could only assume was, the Guardians. Reaching out with claws fully extended, she attempted to snag any part of the felled trees that came within reach to further help her forward motion cease. Claws ripped through bark, splinters flew in all directions as she skittered to a stop. “Snjor are... are you okay?” Tharala levered herself to her aching feet with the aid of her spear. She flexed her wings, wincing at a slight pull from the forward edge of her left wing. “I... I don’t know what happened. One minute, he was wailing and whining, and getting ready to launch something huge. And then, something entered the arena from above and now, now he is gone!” Snjór growled very audibly. He was supposed to be MINE! “Well, I don’t see him...” The skyfisher trailed off, faintly relieved. Relief was followed by guilt, and Tharala hammered the emotion down, shoving it away. Her wings rustled, rattling slightly as she gave herself a little shake. She should not be relieved. Yes, she wouldn’t have to kill the odd man, but that was what she was here for, to fight and win. If she could not commit herself to this, then she was wasting everyone at home’s time when she could be looking elsewhere for solutions. “We... I think we have to find someone else to fight...” Snjór sat cross-legged on the trunk of a fallen tree, her tail wrapped around her waist. “I know. But, I have spent all my time concentrating on the one who watched. Other than the one that started the fire, I don’t know much. And the one that started the fire seemed rather easy to annoy and throw off. Anger is not his friend.” Tharala looked around swiftly. “Perhaps he would be the one then. If he is so quick to anger, he might make a mistake.” She nodded, hardening her resolve. “Yes, that makes sense.” “Mmmm, well, this fighter was male, and older. Old enough to have silver in his hair.” Snjór’s tail knocked on the wood under her. “Large... like really large. But, when I cast Whiteout and the arena light diffused through it and brightened, which was not an intended result, he seemed to go crazy and hurled an energy bolt in my direction.” She placed a hand on her belt gently. “Light...” Tharala glanced up at Snjor, her golden eyes almost sparkling. “I have an idea.” “Please share, Tharala. I want us to make it out of here alive.” Snjór watched Tharala but kept her ears open in case someone decided to be smart and try something. “If you could cast that spell again, the one from before, I could use another of the ringers. If the spell magnified the light before...” “Then, it should do it again!” Smiling, Snjór felt proud of herself. Even though it had been an accident, it was quite useful now. “Exactly,” she glanced around once more. “Um, is that him, over there?” She pointed towards a large man, spotted through the trees and brush, moving along with... “Oh sweet Lord and Lady of the Light, is that a wolf?” Snjór’s ears picked up, stiffening at the mention of a wolf. She looked at Tharala, then climbed up one of the branches to get a better view. She growled, but only enough for Tharala to hear her. “Yes. The older fighter is accompanied by a wolf and... a small female. The wolf is sizeable. Three, Tharala?” Tharala swallowed nervously, but nodded. “If, if we surprise them, we should be okay, right?” “As long as we are together and have each other’s back, we will be fine. We’ve already stood together as one against a foe, so that proves that we are a great team and will be fine. Those three...” She narrowed her eyes, focusing only on them. “They don’t look like they have fought at all. That could be in our favour! They don’t know unity yet!” “Alright, can you cast the spell?” She pushed her nervousness away, relegating it to the small, detached space where it could exist, but not matter. Her wings fluttered once, then went still as she took a slow breath. Snjór climbed down the branch and stood next to Tharala. Nodding, she hugged her friend briefly and then bounded ahead to be closer. She had already cast a couple of times and knew she had to be closer to the new targets for Whiteout. Ice is life, Ice is love. Wrapped in blessing from above. Conceal my form, conceal my heart. And keep my life and death apart. Keeping her eyes on the trio, she watched the fog swirl and roll around and towards the three new targets. The skyfisher blinked, returning Snjor’s hug reflexively, and then watching as she bounded off. Tharala shook her head and stepped forward more slowly, watching as Snjor worked her magic. Her hand returned to her belt, and then rose after a moment of hesitation. She shifted her spear, tipping the point down and holding it behind the head so it would not scrape against the ground as she moved and spoil her balance. Her hand squeezed tightly, and then once more she spun. Golden wings flared open as she turned, her throat loosing a high, shrill hawk scream as she threw. The cry was designed to draw the attention of the three, even through the fog and mist that was taking form about them. If she could catch all three of them looking up, she would be more successful in her aim. Tharala was confident that their plan would work, but it never hurt to be certain. That was why she had used two of the ringers. The dark metal spheres hurtled through the air, and burst amongst Snjor’s cloud of light amplifying mist, one after the other, like two gigantic rocks impacting each other. Snjór watched in anticipation as Tharala hurled two spheres towards the trio and her ever growing ice fog spell. The icy particles would reflect the light at each other, continuous as the fog shifted around the area. She hoped, beyond all measure, that the results of this action would be as interesting and as effective as when she had first entered the arena. Absentmindedly, Snjór reached down to scratch her left thigh, as an itch had begun to manifest itself. She pulled back almost immediately upon feeling something wet and warm on her fingers. Blood. Although her armour spell had done well to keep her wound numb, the blood had sluggishly seeped into her fur, turning it a dark rust-red colour. Snjór sighed. Later... Reluctantly, she shifted her gaze to their new targets.
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