Post by Deus Arachnis Ultimus on Jan 10, 2007 16:06:04 GMT -5
When Arachnis had found his way to the bottom of the boot, he began feeling around for any sort of method to stop it, but only found empty space. The spider was now becoming frantic about stopping this boot.
But it wasn't long before his search was put to a halt. For some reason, there were now flames spreading all over the boot. With one lick from the flame, the acromatula realized he had to get out, and began pushing down on the boot's insole. The heat grew more intense and more burns appeared on Arachnis's skin, but the sole eventually gave way as the fire had burned the leather too thin to support the rubber bottom, and Arachnis fell to the ground, accompanied by the boot's sole, and employed the same measures to soften his fall.
With the boot gone, Arachnis could return his attention to the group. Furious from the burns inflicted on him, he let out a loud, indignant hiss, and began charging toward the group, and, using tactics uncharacteristic to what one would expect from a spider, leaped into the air and toward the group, aimed at crushing as many as he could with his enormous legs.
One would have thought that something more profound, or perhaps fearful, or maybe even helpful would have come from Aednat’s mouth as she witnessed the appearance of Sylph’s conjured boot. Instead, the brunette couldn’t resist tilting her head and quirking an amused smile up at her comrade. “Nice,” she commented appreciatively, for once her tone as wry as Sylph’s, though she punctuated her word with a laugh. The laugh was quickly followed by a wince as the burning boot stomped down on its first batch of victims. “Eeew,” she said under her breath, and crinkled her nose in distaste, even before the stench reached her. It was almost all she could do not to vomit on the spot. Aednat was almost sad to see the thing melt and become misshape as the flames devoured it. It had, after all, been an absolute stroke of genius on Sylph’s part to create the thing in the first place. She’d have to remember to congratulate Sylph on that later. It had been a lovely bit of magic. She’d already committed the spell Sylph had used to memory; under any other circumstances, she’d have said she’d doubt it would ever be of any use, but now she was willing to bet that Sylph had said the same thing once.
“Ugh, lovely,” she muttered to herself as her attention was drawn back to ground level with the giant spiders that had so far escaped a squishy doom scuttling towards them at a horribly quick pace. “Eight legs will do that for you,” she said to no one in particular, her lilting Irish accent displaying her slight disbelief. The boot well and truly on fire, never to be saved, nor anyone in or under it, from a fiery demise, Aednat directed her wand ahead of her and sent fierce jets of fire at any spider that appeared. She knew that, with this many huge spiders around, there would have to be a king, or a ruler of some sort. She’d already guessed that it was going to be bigger still, and she wasn’t looking forward to its appearance, but she wished it would just come on ahead and they could deal with it. This half-battle was only conducive to everyone getting more highly-strung, less attentive, or increasingly impatient, depending on the respective temperaments of those assembled. She herself was one of the impatient ones.
Her voice was nowhere near as loud as Roan's, as she neglected to magically amplify it, but Aednat could be bloody loud when she wanted to be, and she shifted from one foot to the other before shouting out. “Seriously, come on SuperBug, or are your over-large friends going to have to do it all themselves?” Or maybe… Maybe the immense atrocity had already been squashed by the boot! SuperBug squished by SuperBoot, she mused, the image causing her to crinkle her nose again though the thought brought a small smile to her face, lifting the corner of her lips without any reason that the others would be able to see. Of course, she’d hoped too early, as she found out just a few seconds later. “That… right… the earth’s going to shake soon if that obscenity comes any closer. That’ll be Spidey there, alive and well, yes? Pity. I’d hoped he was dead already…” Well, she’d always been an optimist. Resorting to fire again – she’d trusted Sylph’s instinct that fire would be useful dealing with the creatures, not least as her friend was a specialist as far as beasts and creatures were concerned – she shouted over her shoulder. “Big boy’s here,” she told them, and then suddenly stopped her fire. “Hey, maybe… what say we try to slice spidey’s legs off? Think it’d work, Sylph? It’d hurt, anyway. And I guess Roan has the fire covered for him…” She smiled, thanking Merlin she trusted these people down to the ground, and hoping that the smell wouldn’t be too bad if they managed to sever some of the Acromantula’s legs.
But he jumped. She hadn’t expected that, but she dived out of the way, dragging someone with her – she didn’t know who it was, she’d just grabbed at some material on whoever was closest to her – and rolled into a bush. Shaking her head to rid it of leaves, she reappeared and emerged a second later and watched, horrified, as the huge body passed over where she’d been just a second ago. Remembering something from her duel with Charlotte, the Irish girl pointed her wand at the ground where the Acromantula was about to land, and with three short, sharp cries of “Bombarda!” she had created an effective pit in the ground, and a very uneven surface for spidey to land on. Getting your footing was undoubtedly much easier when one had eight legs, but there was still a hopeful chance that the spider mightn’t get it immediately or, even better, that he’d injure himself. Either way, they should have long enough for them to start throwing fire at him once more, maybe to tie him up and put him out of action, or maybe even to revert to her original idea. “Off with its legs!” she felt like shouting, before the shadow loomed closer. She didn’t wait for it to land before she started shooting fire at its underbelly.
Thanks Hayz! ^_^
...gypsy out of nowhere... ...tinkerbell out of the blue...
Post by Yamaroshi Riel on Jan 10, 2007 22:11:17 GMT -5
For the few minutes the battle taken place, the grubby looking boy had done essentially nothing to hold the advance of the attackers. Though the group of spiders were intimidating almost to a point of Yamaroshi admitting it, they didn't seem to pose too much threat, mostly because of the purple haired leader who's name he understood to be Sylph using her generic method of spider extermination, and the loud mouth girl who's name he understood to be Roan using fire magic. Essentially, there wasn't yet much to do.
And so, Yamaroshi and his companion simply kept watch out for other threats. At least, that was what he intended to do, but his balance was thrown off by somebody near him and into a nearby bush. As he observed her casting her spells, his "What are you doing" was interrupting by the arrival of one of their opponents. All at once, the reality of the size of the acromantula seeped through his head. The monster's legs had to be almost half as thick as his torso.
Upon impulse, the boy concluded it would be his turn to help. Finally drawing his wand, he pointed it to the ground and the soil it hosted formed a smooth, conic shape with a sharp tip, which pointed at the spider's head. With not even half a second's warning, it launched itself into the spider's head, not hitting the brain, but causing intense pain. This attack was only a small preview of the boy's abilities.
Everything was scuttling jointed legs and swift, almost panicked movements, multi coloured jets of light that emanated from wand tips and loud voices. In the midst of it all Sylph stood tall and straight brandishing her borrowed wand, hair gleaming dark wine and eyes sparking green. It was clear to any that she was lost in the fight, her wiry frame reveling in the action that transported her mind from its grief-bound dwelling place to something far more comforting, however strange that may have seemed. Battle had set Sylph's revs ablazing, no longer was she idling in first gear; then again, she hadn't even hit her stride yet - reserves were still high for the arrival of the wolf.
The conjured boot seemed to entertain as well as impact heavily on the spider-army's numbers, but there was no time to share a conspiratory grin with Aednat as she showed her appreciation for the spell; Arachnis was in the boot - the boot was on fire - Arachnis was out of the boot, and coming straight for their little group of hunters. With a final flick of her wand Sylph sent the now burning magical footwear careening into the heart of the mass of jostling spiders, adding to the massacre of arachnids. The stench was horrific, and part of Roan's speech was rendered... what? Late? Futile? Either way, the bare branches of some trees were already catching and smoldering, smoke rising eerily from their limbs like escaping souls. Sylph whirled to face his approach, though she kept out of his direct path.
Which turned out to be a good thing. She was aware of Aednat off to her right, an idea flowing from her lips to Sylph's highly strung brain. Cut his legs off? Yeah, why the hell not? Seemed as good an idea as any - Acromantula couldn't regenerate like some magical creatures. The problem was getting close enough, finding the weak spot in those massive thick biramous limbs. And finding the right spell. Most slicing spells were reserved for small objects - thread, material, not for flash and blood structures likes those creeping - no, wait - flying toward them. Aednat and the earth mage went one way, Sylph leaped to the other, joining Roan. Arachnis was sandwiched between the four of them. If they were going to do this, there would not be a better chance. Figuring that Roan did in fact have the fire angle covered, Sylph ran over a few spells that might help her. Everything she thought of in that split second would not do the job, she knew that.
A gust of wind tugged at her hair, warm and dry. Automatically Sylph's felt for it with her mind, a relic of Talon's training. A wind mage should be able to tell which wind was blowing at half a seconds notice, even if you didn't know where North was, and be ready to use it in the same moment. Without the right wind, the spells wouldn't work. It was, of course, still Notus, the fiery dark breeze Sylph used so often in battle, the one she had summoned to her before she had even set out. He was strangely comforting in his heat, his fury and passion strengthened her. With the instantaneous relationship she felt with this wind came a memory. The owlery at Magic Horizons, training with Talon. I wish he were here... Sylph summoning Notus for the first time, performing magic with his great power...
Inside herself, she felt a small hot ball of yellow energy rise and fall, spinning ever faster upwards, though it remained static. It grew as she concentrated on the image harder, recalling every detail of the day, of how Notus had appeared to her that very first time, at the beginning of it all...
"Mucro flammeus!" she cried suddenly, focusing both the yellow ball of energy and the gale's power into one point. As if from thin air, a great spinning blade, made as if from the wind itself but red-hot to the touch, appeared. Sylph shook with the sheer force of the thing, but she did not falter. Silently, the blade flew toward Arachnis' second leg joint, front and second right. In the next second, in a splatter of hemolymph and other ceolomic fluids, the leg was removed and it fell, oddly slow in this frenzy of movement, hairy and twitching on the forest floor as if it longed to be back with its owner. The rotating saw buzzed again, this time through the right hind, so that the spider king was vastly uneven.
Smaller spiders were still advancing at horrible pace, and Sylph, hearing their scuttling approach, was forced to turn and beat them off, blasting them from her path with every spell she could think of, testing which was the most effective. Their numbers were thinning, every slice of James' sword, every blast of Roan's flames, every piece of odd magic from the earth mage helped their cause. Things were moving. But where was Fenris?
“Firstly, I would like you to pay no mind to any miniscule ‘tingling’, as you phrase it, that you might be experiencing. All they are, I assure you, is a little safeguard to make certain we are not disturbed. After all, those intruders have such fearsome power, it frightens me to imagine what they might do if they saw me having a little chat with their enemy,” Orifiel said, broad smile un-dimming on his face, masking whether or not even Orifiel took himself seriously. “Secondly, I would like to remind you that I come seeking to ask no questions, nor do I recall ever having implied so. I simply said I wished to have a little chat with you, as I’m certain this isn’t too terrible detrimental of a time for a pleasant conversation, though I intend for it to be, for the most part, a bit one-sided.” He said, his voice clearly reflecting his opinion that there was nothing more important in the world that could possibly override speaking with a Nephilim when they wished to have a ‘little chat’.
When Roan’s voice boomed out over the forest, drawing it’s king’s attention away from Orifiel for the moment it took him to respond by way of speaking to himself, Orifiel rolled his eyes and sighed as though dealing patiently with a child who happened to bear a horribly short attention span; arms crossed, he still just smiled patiently until the lycan turned back to him, “Oh, a game of chess would be most wonderful! I’m glad you suggest it, yet,” he paused, thinking, “No, I’m afraid we just don’t have time, not to mention I believe I left my chess pieces with another fine fellow whom tragically couldn’t make it here today. Besides, there’s not a soul alive who could best a Nephilim in their own chess match, so I think it would ultimately be a waste of time; I apologize for my refusal to play, but I think it best we move on to business.” he said, though either if he was, in fact, serious or was just making a show of wasting time was quite uncertain, as just about everything else that involved pinpointing a Nephilim’s motive.
“Now, you don’t know me. Of that I am certain, nor would you know my partner. As of my partner, since he does not play a central part in this tale, his name irrelevant, yet of my name, you may call me Anil. As for my family name, it should be rather irrelevant seeing as how I was adopted into a wizarding family many of their generations ago, yet for the purpose of our time here you should know it happens to be Hawkins; I also believe it is somewhat important to know I am a professor up at the school, if that happens to do anything to my credibility.” Orifiel proclaimed, relying on the hope that Fenrir wouldn’t have enough prior knowledge to pick out the falsehoods in his statements. Should he happen to know the name only and be able to relate it to being a professor at the school, it would do naught but work to his own favor.
Though Anil himself had not spoken much on Orifiel’s earlier assumptions, he has presumed from his silence that much of what he had said was, in fact, true. Acting on this assumption, he ploughed right on talking, “Now, knowing my name, I believe that you would be able to assume what it is I seek from you, especially as Azrael himself is naught to be found, so I can’t very well find out what I want from him myself, now can I? Now, I said I have no questions, so don’t make me ask, will you? I’m afraid I can’t simply pass on the information you should probably come to know, that which might be the difference between glorious life and dishonorable death, until you at least tell me that which I want to hear.” he said, emphasizing the word ’dishonorable’ to hopefully procure the information he sought with as little struggle as possible, which would ultimately be best for the both of them.
“Not to mention,” he added as a final afterthought, one that should procure cooperation from Fenrir if the lycan desired his battle so dearly, “The sooner we can conclude business here, the sooner you can be ‘poofed’ right back to your little party.”
Post by Deus Arachnis Ultimus on Jan 17, 2007 2:31:47 GMT -5
With his decent, the humans would soon die. If he didn't crush them with his weight, it wouldn't matter; He still had his strength, his stinger, his silk and his fangs.
His landing would have been perfect, apart from the flame which was being launched at him from his side. With another angry hiss, he began turning toward the source of this burning, but was distracted by the sharp cone which had been lodged part way into his head. He had no idea where it came from, so he continued to turn towards the source of the flames.
But then he was distracted again. Something else, which was apparently sharper than that cone had appeared. Before he could comprehend anything, a nearly unimaginable pain made itself known, and it wasn't long before the spider realized what had happened. Without much more chance to think, another leg came off. Now realizing where the cause of this pain was, Arachnis aimed his abdomen towards the spinning air, and fired his silk at it, thinking it would end the assault. With only a half second of delay, he turned back toward the source of the flame, raising his two front legs and brining them back down to crush the two who were there.
He was now more determined than ever to have his way. If he didn't make a meal out of at least one human, the whole ordeal would have been a horrible mistake.
Post by Yamaroshi Riel on Jan 17, 2007 3:05:06 GMT -5
The concept of a "blade of air" wasn't new to Yamaroshi. The boy had grown to the age of eleven as a muggle. and some muggle fantasies included something of the sort, usually a sword. After learning of elemental magic, Yamaroshi began to wonder if such a thing were possible. However, the boy was always skeptical about it. Such a thing seemed almost impossible. But now he was seeing it for himself. The leader, Sylph had conjured one, and he observed as two of the spider's legs were cut off.
His moment of awe was quickly extinguished as the creature kept its attention focused upon Yamaroshi and the girl next to him. Watching the two front legs rise above the ground, the boy was quick to place his left palm upward, wiggling his finger simultaneously up and down, beckoning the soil to rise up. It did just that, creating two pillars of dirt, protecting himself and the other by stopping the acromantula's attack.
Finally, the boy decided to use his earth magic at a higher level. Raising his right hand, and making a quick motion with his wand, the words Terrae Incarcerous escaped his lungs. The soil in the vicinity obediently began to collect, exposing the roots of the trees which once stood near them. The dirt was enough to cover the Arachnis's entire body, pinning its head to the ground, but Yamaroshi spitefully left its legs and head exposed. The spider could struggle, but the dirt bound itself together, making it impossible for it to do anything apart from wiggle it's legs and blink with its eight eyes.
"Gotcha".
With a triumphant smirk across his face, the boy approached the downed enemy, index finger extended. The smirk widened as an overwhelming sense of spite took hold. He knelt down and reached out to the helpless spider, poking one of its eyes with his finger, then wiping the liquid on his overcoat.
Rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles, Yamaroshi readied himself for the deadly earth magic which he had employed during the war. "I'll be right back", he said to the group, while conjuring a transparent sphere around his head to keep the stench out. I'm going to deal with these spiders now. You just keep holding the big one down. At this, Kamaroshi began climbing the mound of dirt which hosted the four nearest to Arachis and stood on top of the acromantula as his body change from the shape of a dog to that of a human, except with no head.
As the boy disappeared, a loud crack echoed through the forest, and it wasn't long before there was another crack, and Yamaroshi was now on the other side of the group of spiders, on his own.
Without wasting any time, the boy pointed his wand toward the ground, causing the soil to form into several gigantic stalagmites, impaling the giant spiders, then crumbling and falling back to the ground. Yamaroshi kept up with his attack, slaughtering dozens of the spiders, not allowing any of them to get close to him. Though he would not admit it to himself, there was an increasing sense of self satisfaction growing inside him.
Battering first one spider with a quick fire Bombarda the violet haired witch then transfigured two more of the things into eight-legged but totally harmless bubbles with a couple of muttered Ebublio's, sending the former arachnids floating slowly upward, their fragile bubble forms propelled as they were on the breeze to a point above the tree tops where Sylph fervently hoped they would get popped by a stray pointed branch or twig. To be perfectly honest, the legs should not have remained sticking out of the bubbles, but it was a rushed piece of magic, and hey, it still did the trick. Even the effect was rather nice - jerking black and hairy horrible limbs splayed forth from thin air like that.
Yet Sylph did not have the time to look on and appreciate her work. As she repelled yet another spider, a great clacking could be heard behind her; Arachnis was still on the move. Down to six legs and shot through with pain, sickly yellow-beige hemolymph leaking slowly through the wounds, he was still after a meal, and he was homing in on the earth mage and Aednat. With a sickening lurch of her stomach that she barely registered thanks to the high levels of adrenaline in her bloodstream Sylph knew she had to try and help the two of them. Not because she doubted Aedy's talent - or the boy's, for that matter, though she didn't even know his name yet - but because of pure unbridled instinct and the need to fight the boss. She wanted a warm up to dealing with Fenris, and this giant Arachnis creature was just the ticket. She wanted the final blow, she wanted to kill, to avenge Hayzie's death. Green eyes suddenly saw nothing but red, and at least a dozen or so of the smaller spidery followers bought it in an explosion driven by fury and grief. One individual that had been lucky enough to have survived the conjured blast with only half a leg missing and a little disorientation to show he was the worse for wear was then booted up several feet in the air before he knew what had happened, a black dragon-scale having pierced his crunchy exoskeleton. The spider tottered for a moment, before falling and its life leaving it.
The lanky frame of the Hunt's leader arrived by Yamaroshi's side even as the pillars of soil erupted. Sylph had to admit, this guy knew what he was doing. Before she could do anything to aid him, however, Yamaroshi had called up the earth itself to engulf the nightmarish creature. Relief flooded through Sylph, but something else too. Regret? Envy? It could have been both, for as those flaming peridot eyes settled on the trapped monster, she felt a loss, a missed opportunity. She could have finished this spider, she knew it. Save it, she told herself sternly, and yet detached, emotionless. You'll get your kill soon enough.
"Fine," she muttered back at the voice, before raising the volume of her tones. "Fine!" she called after Yamaroshi's apparating form, not lacking in humor as she spoke, a dry smile quirking at her lips. "But the wolf is mine, got it?!" The earth mage may have been dealing well with the remainder of the army, but that wasn't to say there was nothing for the rest to do. Taking a lingering look at the trapped Arachnis, and knowing that she could not inflict death or pain on a foe so helpless, Sylph turned and thought of an interesting spell to deal with the few spiders left.
"Ducklifors!" she said, almost lazily. "Ducklifors, Ducklifors, Ducklifors". One by one, any spider was instantly transformed into a small yellow rubber duck which fell the short distance to the forest floor and landed with a squeak. It was an odd sight, and a funny one, but there was still a seriousness in the air, almost as if it were emanating from Sylph herself. Spiders were not what she came here for. She wanted Fenris, and she wanted him now.
Post by Deus Arachnis Ultimus on Jan 19, 2007 14:29:36 GMT -5
And Sylph wasn't the only one. Arachnis was in a critical position. He knew his clan was being torn apart, but now, he could not even tell how many were left. Now, all he could do was wiggle his legs and wonder why Fenris Fenrir was not coming to fight his own battle. This mean was not worth it. He could not fight, and was hopeless to assist his brethren.
All Arachnis wanted to do now was get his clan out of danger. But he could not do that. Unfortunately, Fenris was the master of the forest, and as long as he wished the acromantulas to stay, they had no choice. Indeed, the blame for the decimation of his clan was to be placed on Fenris. Perhaps the clan could catch Fenris of guard, and make a meal out of him before he had a chance to object. Yes, surely that would be possible. After all, Arachnis had come close to it before, and might be able to do it again, especially if he were wounded by these humans.
Now, Arachnis had formulated his back up plan, but it all counted on Fenris showing up. All he could do in the meantime was..."Children, forget about finishing the humans. Wait for Fenris, and keep yourselves alive for now".
The remaining clan members suddenly began acting differently from before. Rather than going all out at trying to kill the group, they were trying to pull of maneuvers to avoid spells.
Roan felt her mind doing everything it was supposed to in a fight as it seemed to go longer. Apparently Fenris did not heed his trees as something truly important, and as soon as the Hufflepuff got the chance she would follow up on her threat. Right now she was more focused in on the spiders that were attacking the group rather visciously. Her heart was pounding in her chest and in her ears and she could hear her own breathing as she whipped fire at any of those that got too close to the humans. Roan’s eyes flashed as she saw the larger spider leap out of the boot, and she frantically thought of something to do about it. Aednat was quicker though, making it so that everyone nearby was safe from the probably squishing. Before anyone could really react to the larger being amoung them though, the odd boy and apparently earth elementalist was taking care of the spider with his own brand of magic. Elementalism was taking them far today.
Her attention turned back to the fight, she kept a careful eye on the giant spider and those trying to take it out. Roan had no intentions of going to fight the leader, not when Sylph and Yamaroshi apparently were doing there own thing. She would only get in the way, and so was better put to use flaming the smaller spiders. With each leap, each slice, each spell, Deus was whittled away like a block of wood. Soon he would not even be able to fight them as his injuries were so bad. Good.
There was some faltering in the girl as Yamaroshi decided to do some more advanced earth magic. Roan’s eyes wandered and she watched it out of the corner of her gaze. Such power. There was a small smile as she realized that maybe one day people would look at her with such amazement, when she got a much better hold on her fire powers. There was no time for such pride or dreams though, as they were still being attacked by the little buggers. About to go back to torching the spiders, her eyes were once again diverted by little spots of yellow. “What the heck?” She said aloud, realizing that the spiders were turning into ducks.
The surprise turned into a smile though as she saw that Sylph was the one wielding the rather odd spell. That worked just fine, as long as nobody slipped on the rubber ducks. Her distraction cost her though, Roan turned just in time to see one of the spiders leaping at her. Leaning to the side enough to fall down she let fire escape her hands, basically charring the spider as it missed her by an inch. The flaming arachnid, instead of flying into Roan, hit the tree and set the bark aflame as the creature fell to the forest floor. Panicking the girl stood up quickly and without thinking, called the flame back to her. As she held the fire in the palm of her hand, there was thought written all over Roan’s face.
What if she were to send up a beacon of sorts to Fenris? Did she have the power to not only cast such fire, but control it and bring it back to her? Roan wondered that if Fenris were to actually be able to see the fire above the treetops, then maybe he would be more eager to get down and fight. And she didn’t really have to do much damage if she was able to control the blaze.
Her eyes were sparkling as the girl sought out their leader. “Oi Sylph! How badly do you want Fenris to come down here?” Roan asked, the fire still in her hand, a glimmer in her eye that said she meant no nonsense. She was willing to do it if she had to, it would be her biggest working thus far. But heck, that was what making it up as you went along was for.
If this is to end in fire Then we shall all burn together Watch the flames climb high into the night
Little rubber duckies were getting stale, repetitive. And yet even as Sylph cast about in her mind for an alternative way of filling the forest with squeaky bath toys the spiders began to retreat, bouncing out the way of spells, backing off of the group of humans they were supposed to be attacking. Clearly the trapped and wounded Arachnis had issued some order to them in their own arthropod type language. What that had been was unknown to Sylph, but it was certainly having a pleasant effect. The hideous not-so-mini beasts scrambled their jointed legs and went for shelter, up trees, in holes, anywhere just not to get hit by earth or fire or spell anymore. Well that was good, wasn't it?
Second sigh.
While the retreat of the spider clan was certainly a welcome respite, a chance for the participants of the hunt to regain their breath, Sylph distrusted it. She still stood, wary and watchful, every sense strained to the utmost, waiting to see what would happen. Had the spider overlord called back his troops so that Fenris had a clear entrance? The wolf had after all been the one to call forth this onslaught. Or perhaps his arachnid brain had decided that to secure his own safety he had to provide the humans with some kind of truce or surrender? Or was it merely all a trap, a re-mustering of the army, a regrouping of his forces? Roan's voice cut through Sylph's racing suspicions like a buzz saw. Oi Sylph! How badly do you want Fenris to come down here? Sparking green eyes turned to the brunette with fire in her hands, and cocked a deliberately sardonic brow, an expression that needed no words to accompany it, so clear was its implication.
A third sigh passed her lips.
Fire would rile up Fenris like anything; it always had before, yet this time and so far it hadn't seemed to have called him forth quite as quickly as usual. Perhaps more bait was required. Burning his precious forest was dangerous, and Sylph herself hated to see the trees crisp and burn, being so old and wise in their own tree-ish way. But it was necessary, and Sylph was in a fey mood. Let them burn. A quirk of the lips, a roll of the eyes, a nod of the head.
Shakily the girl turned her gaze from Sylph to the flames in her palm. Burning trees was enough to bring out the pure madness of Fenris Fenrir, and maybe that was what they needed right now. The spiders had retreated, making the area seem awkwardly quiet almost. Taking a deep breath, Roan moved away from anyone standing near her so that she wouldn’t accidentally hurt someone. Her eyes were on the fire though, concentrated there as she quickly formulated what she was going to do to get this done without burning the Forest down around their heels.
“Inflamare.” The Hufflepuff said quietly to herself, watching the fire in her hand grow greater. Finally, a very few strenuous moments later, Roan took a deep breath and let the fire grow much more then the average fireball. Gripping control over the element like a rider reins in a horse, the girl directed the fire to go straight up from her palm. A torch that shined and eerie light around the Hunting Party. Up the fire went, through the tree tops, a beacon for all to see. Every time flame would hit a leaf, or a branch of one of the trees around her, it would catch fire. The smell of burning wood was soon nearby.
While the flames were active, Roan was not. Her forehead was furrowed as she wrestled with the element completely. It wanted to eat, burn, destroy. These trees were dry, the perfect food to devour. The mage’s job right then was to just keep it from doing that. Whispering a silent apology to the trees she let the flames eat away slowly at their prey. Every time that it would try and break away and full consume what it was holding, she would press her will down onto it. You could physically see each time she did, as the small column from her hand would waver as if wind had blown through it.
The faster he came, the less burned. And if the unfortunate creature decided to interrupt her, then the fire would consume more. Roan knew that she would have to not only set up the fire, but withdraw it as well. That was going to be the tricky part.
Hazel eyes focused directly in, trying to ignore the smell that permeated the air. This had to call him. If it didn’t, then this Hunt was for naught.
If this is to end in fire Then we shall all burn together Watch the flames climb high into the night
It was harder to tell which was louder as she ran through the forest, her feet against the floor or her heart hammering in her chest while she tried to breathe evenly enough to allow oxygen to flow through normally.
What Matilda didn't know was since she had left the hunt group, she had only been running further and further into the forest rather than out of it, and probably, knowing her luck, round and round in circles, too. Stopping and bending over, placing her hands on her knees while she tried to regain her breath, Matilda looked down at the ground. There was no way else to describe her situation right then. Lost was the only word that sounded in her head.
In. Out. In. Out. the pink haired girl told herself, bringing herself to stand upright and look around her. Which way was she meant to go to get out? To find those who hadn't gone on the hunt? Letting silvery eyes look up into the sky, a red glow painted it, a red... firey glow?
Was the forest on... fire?
"Oh gods..." she almost squealed. It was time to run again.
"You? Nephilim? Afraid of mere mortals that scamper through your grand chess sets?", barked out Fenrir with amusement in his voice; but also accompanied hand in hand with black hatred. "I must warn you though; I have some knowledge of your kind and to think that humans should frighten the likes of you is an understatement. And if you try to play me like a fool; you'll find yourself lacking the ability to regret such an error." It was simply a miracle how in the body of the black-haired lycan that both laughter and anger could co-exist so well in a symbiotic relationship; most people simply didn't have the inner strength to survive such a coupling. Brushing a few crumpled leaves from his hair and picking a few twigs out of his beard was all it took for this organism to calm himself to a reasonable level.
This being claimed that he was of the Hawkins Family through adoption; had he said through birth, Fenrir would've seen through that falsehood faster than the Sun's rays shred fluffy clouds for all the Hawkinses had red hair. And the further fact that this Nephilim claimed himself to be called Anil...this too left reasonable doubt in his mind. Had he not been in the presence of Anil Hawkins at least once? But then again he had never gotten a clear view of the man; he had just made calculated assumptions. And if there was something else about this character....it would have to wait. It happened so fast that Fenrir was knocked off of his feet as he heard noises that no being cut asounder from Nature could ever hope to hear. He heard the wrentching screams of agonized trees as flames unwelcomely caressed their trunks.
"RAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!", screamed Fenris Fenrir as he clutched his throbbing head with his hands, "WHY DO YOU CRY MY CHILDREN; MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHY! WHO HAS YARGHHHHHH!!!!!". The large lycan in his human form was thrown head over heels and he sprawled out on his back; his hands feebly twitching and his eyes bulging with a flood of emotions. "I'll....I'll tell you what you want to know Hawkins.", moaned Fenrir as he struggled to cease his pains and the wraith-like noises that plagued his ears, "You want to know the whereabouts of one of the twins, Aylen Hawkins, then I shall tell you as swiftly as ARGH....possible. The last place the twin of Aidana was seen was after I sealed him in a crypt back at Magical Horizons, under the employ of Angelus Morti, and left him to rot there."
"But you must know more about Azrael; he was the Angelus Morti and it's leader.", said Fenrir through gritted teeth as he stood to his feet; managing to conceal his anguish, "Angelus Morti was formed to combat the school's leader at the time; to overthrow her rules and instate a new regimen. Ahh...the pain....their anguish, why must I suffer needlessly? But you must know! Azrael first recruited me to serve under his banner and under this colors I ravaged the Great Hall, kidnapped one of the Professors, tortured countless innocents, kidnapped Hayzie Roberts and then saved her from a Demoness...it is because of this girl I nearly died and for that she rots within me. Those are my deeds under Azrael, Nephilim, and the only other topic of interest is that Azrael managed to disable the school's most powerful professor and put him in essentially a coma. That man was your employeer; Talon A. Windwaltz."
"There Hawkins....you know what I know now.", concluded Fenrir; his eyes watering with sorrow and barely concealed hatred for whomever had the gall to burn his home. "Now keep your half of the bargain; teleport me near that lost child so that I may proceed to kill those vile interlopers and maddened mages. There is knife work that needs doing this day; and I intend to make certain that upon my honor that no one leaves the woods of Fenris Fenrir without a wound. Now release me Hawkins; my hour of Triumph and Vengence is nigh."
"And I wish to stain my hands in the blood of vanquished foes."
The hunters were gaining ground. The dark sea of spiders scattered this way and that, now a broiling mass of chaos and confusion compared to the mechanical efficiency they had begun with. The bright yellow of the transfigured bath toys were easily swallowed by the black horde of swirling arachnids, trampled under spindly legs. Flickering flames cast shifting shadows, turning the entire battleground into a surreal nightmare. The smoldering remains of savagely abused leather slowly faded to embers, and then, ash nearby.
The fighting seemed to be reaching its peak before unexpectedly plateau-ing into a tiresome stalemate. The two sides were evenly matched. Though the wind mage Sylph had dreamed up several creative ways to exterminate the insectile army, and had, for a while, managed to eliminate a good portion of them, they were not attacking with wild abandon now as they had previously. Their energies were no longer directed into a full frontal assault, but rather into evasive maneuvers that significantly reduced the possibility of becoming wounded. Thus, they found themselves in an impasse.
A wild card was needed to tip the balance.
The arachnid army had thinned considerably. However, oddly enough, the crowd of students was beginning to thin as well. It was hardly noticeable at first, but it was inevitable that someone would become aware of it soon enough. One by one, students were mysteriously disappearing without a trace. No yelp accented their departure, no hint of their disappearance other than sudden empty space where they had been. Of course, these happenings weren’t nearly as mysterious to the perpetrator. A disillusionment charm hid his presence, and the general noise of battle masked his spells. If necessary, the incantation would be cast silently, but these instances were rare. Embroiled in their own battle, several students fell victim to a simple strategy.
It was folly to stare down a good ten or twenty wizards and witches alone, no matter how inexperienced they happened to be. Anil Hawkins was not nearly fool enough to attempt it. Instead, he watched. Instead, he waited. When the opportune moment came, he struck. Picking off careless students that strayed too far from the group, Anil petrified the unlucky soul before casting a strong banishment charm. If he was successful, they would be sent back to the castle. At the very least, they’d be sent to the edge of the forest with little hope of finding their little hunting party again. As he silently preyed upon the students, it became steadily more difficult to continue on in that manner. The younger, the weaker, and the less experienced were quickly weeded out. The veterans, however, were much less inclined to leave themselves open to attack.
A near invisible figure slid in and out of the shadows, wand secure in his grasp. His movements were cautious, desiring to attract the attention of neither student nor Acromantula. The students’ numbers had stopped decreasing for some time; the lone man had not been able to find any openings in which to diminish their numbers further. Only the core group of fighters intent on the revenge against Fenrir was left. It was time to change tactics.
A cold gaze identified the biggest threats. Sylph. Roan. The two were elementalists, plus another earth elementalist nearby. Other than those three, the others did not seem to have any other extraordinary abilities, though they were proving themselves very capable despite this. They could not be underestimated. Anil’s eyes narrowed, his mind spinning the first threads. He had to somehow force it into a one-on-one situation by scattering the students, or perhaps... The plan’s fabric wove itself in existence nearly as fast as Anil tore it apart, discarding ideas and forming new ones in their place. Unable to find a solution, he changed tactics. If he could not lessen the numbers of his foe, he had to increase the number of his allies. He needed to consult Fenrir.
Anil spat on the ground, dodging a falling branch ridden with flame. Anil hadn’t the slightest idea where Fenrir was. He gave a sharp whistle, risking discovery. Hopefully, if he was lucky, it had gone unheard by all except the one whose ears it was meant for. Silent hawk wings soared, circling above the treetops. Anil’s bird had heeded the call, but she dared not land among the roaring blaze of trees. Rawiya circled once, twice, three times, uncertain. The ex-auror cursed under his breath. Nothing short of telepathy could get a message to her, and he was somewhat lacking in that area. The red-tail circled one last time before reluctantly departing. There was nothing she could do.
Anil turned, a fierce gaze landed on Roan. That girl. Her fire had to go, and though Charms had never been one of Anil’s favorite subjects, he was certainly more than qualified enough to teach it and even more skilled in utilizing it. “Ignius glacius!” he snarled. A wide jet of ice blue light blasted out of his wand, splitting and surging into the streams of flame emitting from the Hufflepuff’s hands. The spell enveloped the flames, then became one with the very essence of the fire, robbing it of its biting malice. Roan’s precious flame still blazed, still burned, but could do no more harm, tamed by a Flame Freezing charm.
Teagan Offline: This board is full of nostalgia.
Aug 22, 2020 8:39:09 GMT -5
Missing the old MH: gotta say missing when MH and all that was around.
Nov 6, 2019 0:02:30 GMT -5
Willow_lazy: why tf are there 400 posts about adidas
Sept 6, 2018 17:35:57 GMT -5
Azrael: I'm not hard to find, since I'm the only one there who goes by "Azzy", I'm pretty sure. XD
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:41 GMT -5
Azrael: Dunno if anyone still pops by here from time to time, but if any of you mofos do and still feel like gettin' yo nerd on, I've been hanging around this here place a bunch recently: www.roleplayerguild.com/
Feb 10, 2018 16:44:10 GMT -5
Azrael: hold onto your pantaloons
Jul 25, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5