Impetus (Peregrine x Ragamoofin)

Amaris watched the kids' excitement with faint traces of bemusement in her expression. She was new to Ilsworth, and knew little about how much of a burden the hounds had been upon the town. To her they were little more than pests, and if it wasn't for the fact that the hunters had gotten on her bad side, she never would have bothered with such insignificant monsters. For most cities, the hounds also would have proved little trouble, with a solid basis of powerful soldiers and adventurers to rely upon. Only in an Isolated community like Ilsworth would the monsters prove such a challenge to overcome.

After a couple moment's consideration, she eventually chalked it up to childish enthusiasm, enjoyment of a fight they didn't get to participate in.

Unfortunately for the bloodwitch, reaching that conclusion didn't spare her the need to suddenly jump into further consideration of the intricacies of human interaction, as the questions suddenly turned towards Ansell and Jukheyr. To Amaris, the answer to the question was a simple 'yes'. She saw no reason to hide what Ansell was capable of from his family, especially not when they already knew. However, the silence around the table was almost physical in its weight, indicating there was far more nuance to the situation than Amaris fully understood.

For a couple seconds she considered simply ignoring all the potential nuances that surrounded her, and just saying whatever she would anyways. Only the fact that she might be breaking Ansell's trust in her if she did so stayed her tongue, but a flash of irritation raced through her before it was suppressed back into her usual neutral state.

Sighing slightly to herself, Amaris locked her pale eyes on Nala. "That conversation is taboo?" she asked flatly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ragamoofin
A crooked smirk came across Nala's face, shoulders rolling with a shrug. "When Ansell's up and easedropping, yeah, but since he's out for the night-" Nala leaned back in her chair, staring up at the cluster of light above the table. "You see it? Feel it or something? There's always this-" Nala looked from the lights, narrowing them as she found the right word. "Weight that comes over just before he's up and running out of here." Nala softly chuckled, shaking her head as she recalled the excuses Ansell had used.

"Felt it last night, too. Before that storm blew in, just about tore the town apart from the sound of it, eh?" Nala joked towards Amaris, the kids around the table making disagreeing sounds.

"I thought the sheep were gonna blow away!" Raoul added, giggling along with a tickled Meredith. He rose his hands around his head, mimicking the curl of a ram's horns, baaing at his sister. Sweeping in between them, Holly laid out matching plates before them, the soft clatter the only sound as she laid a hand on each of their shoulders. She laid a finger across her own lips, the amused two falling quiet. Setting Videl's plate, Holly gave the girl a silent hush as well.

Nala seemed to appreciate it, keeping her eyes on Amaris, now seeming a bit bolder in her questions. "Tell me, he have anything to do with that storm?" The table's wood gave a creak, Nala leaning in closer, arms spread across the table. "Did it?"
 
Last edited:
Amaris hummed slightly to herself, even as she accepted a dish from Holly and placed it delicately on the table in front of her. Her mind flashed back to Jukheyr's words, before they'd parted ways at the doorstep. Ansell was careful to keep the birdbrain away from his family. The way she'd seen Jukheyr torment Ansell, she could understand the thought process. However, she couldn't help but think that it was simply another tool Jukheyr could wield over Ansell.

"Weight is an interesting way to put it," Amaris replied gradually. She supposed it was an accurate enough description for when he wasn't embodied in some material thing, but she'd still never be able to picture Jukheyr as anything other than an idiotic bird. Even if the two had now reached something resembling a truce.

"And, yes, it gathered the storm, and drove the hounds into town. Made my first hunt that much easier."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ragamoofin
Tension rose in Nala's shoulders, eyes falling away from Amaris, the woman obviously in deep thought. "So, it's gotten that strong, has it?" She shook her head, breathing hard as she did. "He's been...fighting it for so long, but he's been out more than in these days." Nala's cheek twitched with what had to be frustration, tense shoulders coming to rest as Holly laid her hands on her.

Holly drummed fingers over Nala's shoulders, letting her eyes linger before she sent an exhausted gaze Amaris' way. "He's been so tired lately, we...fear it may be getting the better of him. That he - might lose himself to it."

"He's not, right?" Meredith asked, directly at Amaris, tears glistening under the firelight. "H-he's still Ansell?"
 
Amaris' head tilted slightly to the side, the confusion on her face evident through the wrinkle of her brows. After a second's consideration, she shook her head slightly. "I think you have drastically misunderstood something about the relationship between Ansell and Ju... his power," she said flatly. She couldn't blame them for the mistake. It was obvious that Ansell had hidden as much as he could from his family, and even Amaris herself had misunderstood the situation. If it wasn't for her run-in with the wildling, she too would have assumed that Jukheyrthileth was some separate being or entity that had somehow embedded itself in the young man.

"They aren't separate entities, forced to cohabitate. They're one and the same, and neither can exist without the other. No matter how powerful he gets, or how close they become, he'll always be Ansell. That can't change."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ragamoofin
Silence once again took hold of those at the table, even Meredith's sniffling had been quieted. Confusion found itself on the family's faces, all members looking at each other, none exactly sure what to say. There was no telling how much Ansell had let them know about Jukheyr and himself, but it did seem like they truly didn't know much about them - either of them.

Holly was the first to speak, breathing and clearing her throat, looking for Nala for support as she spoke. "I hope, now that the hounds won't be a concern, he can finally talk to us about it." Her hand slipped into Nala's, the women sharing a knowing expression. "There's much he's yet to know, too." Holly found her daughter's face, a soft smile on the woman's lips. "Meredith, dear, dry your tears. Ansell is still Ansell, and we - we'll just have to ask him when he wakes up, alright?"

Nodding, Meredith quickly wiped away her tears, grabbing her spoon and dipping it into her stew. "Uh, thank you for bringing Ansell back," Meredith said into her bowl, though her words were meant for Amaris.

Across the table, Holly shared the sentiment. "Yes, thank you, again." Clasping her hands together, Holly looked over the table, emotions running calmly for the most part. "Let's get dinner started, shall we?"
 
"You're... welcome," Amaris replied, somewhere between confused and simply tired. She wasn't a people person, and having to edge her way carefully through this conversation had been both grating and draining. She was very ready to be done talking, or simply around people where she didn't have to watch every word she said.

True to her word from earlier, Amaris only took a small serving from the provided food, and firmly denied Holly and Nala's attempts to give her more, once again stating that there was no point in them 'wasting' food on her. The food, despite its simple nature, was flavorful and tasty, and Amaris ate the portions she'd taken slowly and attentively.

She wasn't entirely sure it made the burdens of conversation 'worth it', but it certainly helped.
 
  • Sweet
Reactions: Ragamoofin
The night passed rather plainly after the awkward tension. As the dinner went on and bowls were emptied and seldom refilled, tension gave way to ease, questions traded over the tabletop coming more predictably, not as invasive, not nearly as hard to answer. The family's curiosity hit a peak of wondering how she'd liked the cider.

Whether the children's curiosity had been sated could be argued, but Nala made short work of any complaints about being sent to bed. The three had all said their goodnights to Amaris before they'd ran off upstairs. The house was spacious, as Holly informed, the room she offered to the blood witch away from the family's rooms.

Holly gently poked at the glowing array of ivy on the walls, light sapped away from her hasty fingertips, giving a warm glow to the otherwise dark room. A bed, simple and generous in blankets, sat along the far wall of the room, a window perched near the bed; beyond the glass was a peek of the farmland that sprawled around the house. Fog stole most the view, however.

Satisfied with how much light had been cast throughout the room, Holly straightened up with a pinch of pain, a hand resting over her side. "Those'll go out soon," she assured, hands resting over one another, light sinking back into her skin. "Just wanted to give you some light, hope you don't mind." Holly made her way to the door, eyeing the room, none too pleased with the bare state of things. "It's yours for tonight, Amaris," Holly said from the doorway, hand easing it closed. "Thank you, sleep well."

And then it was just Amaris.

tenor.gif

It'd been just Jukheyr for far too long. Call it contrary, but being out was only worth it if Ansell was awake to give a damn. The sheep were - amusing, at best; their stamina wasn't anything near a hound, catching them was only worth the bleats it got out of them. Between it's paws, it held a sheep and squished it, tips of it's claws slicing through the tangles in wool. It might not have been wise for Jukheyr to be using one of Ansell's precious sheep as stress relief, but it hoped it jogged Ansell to get up.

It waited, like it'd been waited, for nothing. It growled, claws popping out and scaring a bleat out of the ram. It echoed over the farm, acres bathed in fog.

"Dramatic - overly so. Such a ridiculous whelp." It muttered, working over the ram's fur with a seething calm. "It was a flesh wound, you hear me? I fel - saw it myself." Over the ram's head, Jukheyr stuck a claw through it's wool, cutting through it easily. The ram was hardly calm for it. "Hush, meat, I'm speaking."

The ram was anything but quiet, Jukheyr still kept on. "He is fine. He is fine because I fixed him. Better than ever, if you ask me-" The ram bleated, Jukheyr narrowing it's eyes sharply. "He is foolish. Death is the price of defying me, that shrub got off lightly."

Ansell had dealt with Thumil in his own way and nearly gotten himself poisoned and killed in the meanwhile. Jukheyr growled, ram clutched in it's paws bleating warily. "Foolish boy and your foolish heart." Killed. And for what? Some dead tree that would've seen him dead, a town that deserved to be- a bleat, from Jukheyr's right. Most of the sheep had gathered around it, wary but feeling safer around it. Muscle memory, Jukheyr reasoned. This would be the herd's first night without the threat of hounds. They were anxious.

"I said hush," Jukheyr cemented, actually rising to it's full height, letting the ram between it's claws slip away. "Do you need a lesson in silence, cotton ball? I would be all too-" Jukheyr stuck out it's head, ears sharpening to a point and flicking about, listening ahead.

Heartbeats, erratic and omnipresent from where it was standing. The sheep. The cows, chickens, various meat. Jukheyr let it's senses stretch, it's body branch into the earth, metal spreading thin and needling through stone. It felt, the shifts in the earth, the waves that came with movement radiating through it's body.

Movement, and a lot of it. It felt like a stampede. Fast and rippling through the ground and-

original.gif

"-with us?"

Holly blinked into the fire of the candles, then at Nala, blinking a few times at her, too. Holly took a moment to choose her words. "Of course, I am. Always."

Nala didn't look or sound convinced, giving a scoff and a roll of her eyes. "Then what did I say?"

Holly took her lip into her mouth, releasing it pink and chewed. "That you were - you. Say again, please. Fine."

Nala sighed, relaxing back into her side of the bed. "Amaris? She staying with us until she's out of town or what?"

Oh, that. Holly shook her head. She wished she could say yes, that Amaris had expressed a want to stay, but she hadn't. "Not quite? She's, ah, not wanting to intrude."

Nala made a knowing sound. "Don't blame her for wanting to leave. She did what she said, what's here for her?" Holly did care to think about the hunters; they'd been a thorn in the town's side, without anything to hunt she couldn't imagine they'd stay.

"You believe her?" Holly asked, in good faith. She believed, she had no reason not to. Ansell had been impressed with her, he was delighted to tell them about her. Holly had no doubt in Amaris' skill, in her magic, as Ansell called it.

"Do you?" Nala asked back, lights flickering just then. Holly fixed them, flame jumping back into brilliance. Holly stepped to the windowsill, candles lighting with a gesture.

Holly worried a hem on her gown. "Yes."

"She's a capable hunter, does by her word, from what I see. Short supply of that, y'know."

Holly chuckled, wrinkles forming around her eyes as her smile grin. "Well, I'm glad I have mine." It warmed Holly's heart to see the cheeky smirk on Nala's face.

"'fraid I didn't do shit with those hounds-"

"I thanked you for not doing - that. "

Nala scoffed, shaking her head at the loss. Been a while since she twirled a spear, would've been good practice. "Tell you what, now that those mutts are dead, how 'bout we take the kids out to the woods?"

Holly hummed, drumming alight fingers over melting wax. "Goodness, with this weather? We'd never make it back." Holly tsked her tongue at the window. "I think I hear thunder now," she lamented, resting a hand over the wood of the window, shaking incessantly in her palm. Holly cocked her head, looking curiously to Nala.

"...Do you hear that?"

68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f2d45776468746f526d55674454513d3d2d3437363535383636362e313465393930646637643836326138383235353233393338393932372e676966

There was a stirring in the fog. The grey clouds made it hard to see, but the disturbance could be felt, even from the house. It felt like a struggle - thrashing felt through the earth, thunderous split of rock cracking, and the cry of a god.

Jukheyr was flying through the air. On any other occasion, this would've been fine, only it had been forcibly set through the air. In it's defense, it was outnumbered.

There were - bears, in the loosest version of the beast. Huge, swollen hunks of rock and vines and overgrowth. Mutated, their variation came with the burden of their numbers. There were some with more than one head, half grown into another. They were giving, like flesh, under all the green and algae. Sensitive like flesh, they'd screamed and fought when Jukheyr sunk it's claws into them, fought even harder when it went for one of their heads. Rock sharpened into claws had left gouges in Jukheyr's frame, trying to tear it apart in their clash.

The fog split open with a wailing maw of fire, Jukheyr breathing it from deep within it's body, bathing it over the grass and it's attacker. Claws long as swords swept up at Jukheyr, the god dodging the swipes as it's chest opened, vents forming through it's metal as it breathed an inferno. The swell of fire engulfed the thing. It's body lit up, fire eating through the thick flora, it's reach for Jukheyr not stopping for a second.

Jukheyr was a nimble breath of fire and steel around them, between them, always moving and flowing - it's shape changed constantly, a formless death carved a path through the bodies.

And there was always more.

More creatures, twisted aberrations of natures, spilling green over the land and always growing. The bears were the least of Jukheyr's worries before long, not with new types of hideous birthing itself every time it cut something off one of them. The bears were covered in a living, budding algae, which not only made them hard to cut, it made more of them.

Flowers bloomed into yawning, shivering gyres of pollen and poison, Jukheyr's body feeling rough from the exposure to the corrosive slick. Teeth, or whatever the plants used, raked painfully over it's form, Jukheyr fighting them back for room to escape. Severed limbs gave way to new bodies, another split of a bloom, faceless and furious and seeking out Jukheyr. As their blood spilled, more emerged from the soaked earth. Jukheyr could only stretch so far, hold the hoard back for so long.

Jukheyr bent itself, twisted itself, warped itself to stop them-

The hoard stormed on, across the bloody field, to the house that sat untouched.
 
Last edited:
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Peregrine
Amaris did not sleep after bidding her farewell to Holly for the night. However, for tonight, there was nowhere for her to be, and nothing for her to do. In the end, she sat down on the edge of the bed, drew her feet up under each other, and finally allowed her eyes to flutter closed. Within a few moments, she’d entered a state of drifting thought, where her mind flowed untraceably between thoughts, accompanied by nothing but the sound of her breath and her heartbeat.

However, the moment the sound of the stampede touched the edge of Amaris’ consciousness she was aware again, her eyes flashing open, and a frown crossing her face. She didn’t know what was causing those noises, but she knew it couldn’t be good. And whatever it was, was rapidly drawing closer.

Amaris straightened immediately from where she was standing, leaving her bag by the foot of the bed. She opened the door to the room, and quickly strode through the house, not bothering to care as the front door slammed closed in the wake of her passage.

Jukheyr was already fighting, but even if the griffon had the nerve to ask for her help, it wouldn’t have been necessary. The gathered monstrosities’ target was obvious, and Amaris had no intention of letting them intrude. However, she couldn’t help the look of ridicule that flashed across her face as she watched the birdbrain’s fight. Every stone creature he smashed to pieces caused a new, irrational mound of stone and earth to rise from the scattered fragments. Jukheyr’s “attacks” were doing little more than blockading the slowly swelling horde.

“Hey, dumbass!” Amaris shouted, as she raced across the open meadow separating herself from the edge of the forest.

“If something isn’t working…” she spat out, even as an unnatural change began to race through her body. The veins on her neck turned black, before spreading all across her body. An acidic, hissing noise came from within her, even as a faint grimace marred her face. “Stop doing the same thing over and over!”

The skin over the dark veins began to bubble and boil, forming into small pustules before bursting open. Each released a trace of black blood, oozing out thick and viscous, hissing and spitting like water in hot oil as it came into contact with the air. The corrosive blood quickly gathered into an orb, before a piece of it shot forward at almost untraceable speed, colliding with the misshapen form of one of the approaching stone golems.

For half a second, it seemed like the beast would shrug off Amaris’ attack without so much as a flinch, but then something began to happen. The hissing, spitting noise from the blood grew louder, loud enough to make out over the stomp of the creature’s heavy feet, as thin black tendrils began to spread across its massive body. Everywhere the corrosion touched, the stone gave way, dissolved into nothingness.

Only a few moments later, the body of the golem was completely covered in the corrosive blood, and its form rapidly grew smaller, until it ceased to be at all. Amaris waited for a tense couple of seconds, wondering if even that wouldn’t be sufficient to stop this seemingly invulnerable tide. However, the monster didn’t reappear, and a vicious smile rapidly spread across her face.

“Don’t make more things for me to fight, birdbrain,” she spat out, before leaping into the fight, bloody black tendrils extending from her body like the feelers of some abyssal god.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Ragamoofin
Jukheyr was still standing, smaller though; it's incessant urge to shred the bulky golums to their root had spun from it's wings into a mess of wires. Entangled with another, still twirling about, reducing anything caught in it's web of razor wire to earthy pulp. It bore the herculean push of the beasts, accepting that much of it's - mistake.

Jukheyr lurched forward, holding the golums as Amaris' sizzling tar worked its gruesome magic. It was morbidly curious to see the big things bemoan and struggle as the ooze consumed them, pulling it smaller and tighter until nothing remained. Jukheyr had the boldness to crack to laugh at their fate. Now, that was something. "About time you start playing dirty, witch!" She looked the part, all tendrils and ooze and death. Oh, this was going to be fun.

Wires laced through the dense flesh, Jukheyr reveling in the chorus of screeching from the impaled crowd. Metal warped through them, splitting between them, a metallic growth unchecked. Jukheyr's wires only stopped when they felt painfully close to snapping, needle-like through the hoard, held still by the metal in their bodies.

"Have at them, Amaris!" Jukheyr's body reared away from the stems connecting it to the hoard, snapping easily as it leapt away. Though they were on the same side - whatever that meant - Jukheyr didn't want to take the chance of getting any of Amaris' death tar on it's form. Even now, racing across the grass, it was leaner than before. The griffin had taken on a more feline shape, wings molding tight against it's back as it ran. Amaris' method was working, all the god had to do was keep the crowds at bay until she was done.

If only it was that easy.

The ground squirmed. Not like a tremor, but more a movement. The carnage that soaked into the earth was drawn deep within it, trampled and sinking deeper from the wriggling, growing stronger by the second.

Jukheyr saw, felt the shaking under it's paws. It grit it's teeth, a metal groan ringing in it's head. "Amaris, the fuckers aren't done yet!"

The ground burst open, a foul scent decorating the air, a chattering and buzzing coming from the yawning nest of - bugs. These weren't like the bears, they looked like bugs, grown foul in the shed blood of their predecessors. They were huge, mossy clusters of eyes and appendages and mouths and leaking sticky blood. There was no cohesion to their forms, simply growing into fleshy mounds in all ways it could. Some crawled from the earth, still wet from the clutch it'd been birthed from, skin rapidly hardening in the air as they sought out the house. They weren't - intentionally deadly. The smaller of the creatures unlucky enough to be caught beneath it might've differed, though.

Some took flight, those coming out thinner and faster, wings drying and lifting them into the air. They rose in hoards of their own, clusters grown into deadly clouds of stingers, venom and pincers. They were fat with venom, stingers oozing with the excess, an acid rain below their rising swarm.

Many, many stayed on their bellies, bodies lengthy and flowering into jagged, long edges. Their legs split into fours, eights, further, until they roamed on countless thin appendages. They spilled from the earth, covering ground quickly.

Jukheyr stood tall, taking in the sight of the land, crawling - nearly overrun with the creatures. "Amaris-" Jukheyr sounded worried, not finishing whatever it was going to say. Instead, it was looking past her, narrowing it's eyes before-

A heat swept over the land, fog evaporating with a hiss as light broke like a dam into the night. And then, there was only fire. Curiously, Amaris and Jukheyr both were spared from meeting flame; fire passing around them in great berths.

Plumes burst into crimson over the land, orange giving way a brilliant flame that swallowed up the sea of creatures. They wailed, their dying, fighting, enraged cries echoing. And yet, the roar of fire, a constant stream - as if yawned from the mouth of a dragon - drowned out the beasts.

Above, the flying pests had stopped; wings frozen in place and trembling. The wind had caught around them, going still and suffocating. Quickly, the wind wound about them, pulling tighter, squeezing inward - crushing the very venom out of the flyers. The fire leapt up and scorched the gathered bodies, their ash left to scatter among the flame.

The fire stopped, roar letting up, the damage done. The landscape had been scarred, still burning bright and crawling with the creatures. The fire had swept over the mass, the softer, younger creatures perishing in the flame. The same couldn't be said for the rest of them. The heavier, moment-older ones had survived. Shrill cries lit up the night as they shed their burning flesh, marching and burrowing and growing ever closer to the house.

A proper huff came from behind the witch and the god. The glowing - fiery visage of Holly unmistakable, even through the light that shined through her skin. An easier tell was the golden hair turned a spire of white-hot flame. Holly's eyes looked over the suffering hoard, then to Amaris. "Tough bastards, aren't they?" Holly's hands worked subtly, the fire still burning on the bodies burning brighter, hotter. Holly's expression grew severe as a groaning was pulled from the creatures, her fire growing hotter by her will, scorching through them. "Seems you've got the right idea."

Holly's attention was pulled from her work and to Jukheyr, the god caught frozen in her glare. "And I'm sure you've got something to do with this?"

Jukheyr shook off the woman's glare, scoffing and turning to the creatures, narrowing it's eyes at the tree line. "That - remains to be seen."

Holly rolled her eyes, fingers flicking and sending the fire over the creatures into white hot intensity. "I assume there are more?"

From above, she got an answer. "Oh, you better believe it." Holly looked upward, a body of mist descending and falling to her side. Mist pulling away, Nala stepped forward, a vicious wind trapped around her arm. In her hand, she wielded a massive cutlass, the weight looking easy in her grip. "Ugly shits are goin' mad, what the hell are they so pissed about?" Nala's questioned was pointedly towards Jukheyr, the god giving her a frustrated growl.

"I. Do. Not. Know!"

Nala let out a growl of her own. "Oh, yeah. Can see why he hates you." Nala gave a nod to Holly, wind kicking up around her as she took to the sky. Holly's body grew hot with her flame, ground at her feet bubbling molten before long.

"Amaris-" Holly began, taking in the deformed sight of her. Holly's stare was resolute. "Give them hell."

Neither of the two seemed up to holding back. Nala was a skybound menace, lancing about on jetstreams like a living blade, dicing through the grubs that took to the air. Below her, Holly's fire only rose higher, the reach of her magic ensnaring the wildfire. Her hands worked swiftly with the flame, balls of fire rising from the flaming earth and lobbing at the pressing hoard.
 
Last edited:
Amaris was many things. She was a sharp dagger that could cut through nearly endless barriers to reach her targets. She was a force of death, a bloody goddess of a battlefield that could reap the lives of the weak like a farmer harvesting wheat. She was an endless tide of blood and corruption that could wear down even the strongest foes.

What she was not, however, was a protector.

She was a lone fighter, who battled without regard for her own safety, because such concerns were unnecessary. Those who would dare take something she valued would face her endless wrath for their conceit. But against the mindless, seemingly endless tides of natural monsters that sprung up around her, who did not care about her presence, who were aimed at something behind her, Amaris found herself in a dilemma.

No, she was not a protector. But, for the sake of the family that had offered her food and shelter for the night, she would do her best.

Even with an infinite supply of blood, the corruption took time to produce. It wasn't something that spawned naturally from within her, but something that was born from a perversion of her magic. All the same, Amaris spread her hands wide, the black ooze bursting from within her body narrowing down into the finest of twine, before it rapidly began to spread through the air.

The net had worked to contain the Wildling. It might server against these bugs as well.

And, for a moment, it did. However, it was impossible for Amaris to replace the corrupted blood as quickly as it was consumed to destroy the insect spawn, and holes rapidly began to appear in her makeshift wall. Only a few seconds later, and the first of the insects burst past her defenses. Amaris didn't dare turn around to try and hunt them, knowing that the division in her focus would only serve to weaken her barrier further.

She would have to rely on the birdbrain, who hopefully had enough common sense to do something other than break them into fragments.

Luckily for everyone, Amaris didn't have to rely on Jukheyr's abilities. A far more reliable pair of allies showed up a second later.

Fire washed across the battlefield, fed by a bright wind to burn hot enough to reduce the monstrosities to little more than ash. Amaris' net quickly re-shaped into sharp spikes, plunging through the ones that the fire hadn't been fully able to scorch, the black blood surrounding and dissolving them away into nothingness.

With the two new reinforcements, the battle quickly tipped back in favor of the defenders. And, at Holly's simple command, a blackened grin spread across Amaris' half-ruined face. "With pleasure," the bloodwitch agreed, before diving into battle.

With Holly and Nala to act as a new backline, Amaris was able to return to her true nature. She rampaged across the battlefield, blood swinging through the air like blades. Everything she cut fell to her corruption, leaving empty swathes behind her that would only be refilled by new enemies a moment later. But that didn't worry Amaris. Even without the blood of her enemies to further fuel her rampage, Amaris was in her element here, ready, willing, and able to hold out against the seemingly endless tide as long as it could persist.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Ragamoofin
The battlefield - a fitting name now, swam with the abominations, even as their numbers were threatened by the combined might of the four. Through Amaris' dive through the hoard, a sizable gap had been left in her wake, only this time it didn't return. What remained pushed on, through fire, through corruption, onward into death.

Within minutes, the battle had swung in the four's favor. Above them, the air was defended by Nala - a nimble predator among the rising swarms. Her blade was cloaked in the chill of her magic, and with every swing the air became dry and cold. Dried out corpses blew on her wind, reducing them to dust with a swift gale.

Below, the field burned white. Holly had risen, a jet of flame taking her high enough to have a clear view of the battlefield. Her hands worked deftly, whispers on her lips, fire consuming the hoard shaping into branding sigils against their flesh. They didn't bother with acknowledging the pain, even as their bodies went numb, limbs moving slower until lifting them was impossible, a puddle of wax where legs used to be. Holly's sigils appeared on one beast after another, a solid wall of wax forming from those lost to her magic.

Jukheyr was - changing; it's mass had reformed again, it's body stockier and smaller, winged and headless. A black mist hovered above the stump of it's neck, it's forepaws turned to spikes and plunged into the ground. It's form grew, drawing metal from the soil, it's coat shedding fine metal. The fragments gathered in the sphere floating above it, swelling and compressing, going liquid before bursting into mist again. The mist flew from it's spot above it's body, forming a web between the waxy shells Holly had made.

Not an inch was given to the hoard, every hit against the creatures winning the four that much ground.

Back at the house, the children were being treated to quite the show. Gathered in their room, shoulders butted against chins as the trio fought for space in the window, trying to make the most of the angle they were given.

"Quit it, I'm trying to watch Mom!" Raoul had cried, face pressed against the fogging glass. To his side, Meredith knocked into him, getting a shout from the boy.

"So am I, now move it!" Meredith grunted as Videl wriggled into her space, bumping her out of the window entirely.

"Is that Amaris? She looks so cool!" That...earned her a pair of odd looks from her siblings. Videl raised a brow at them, shrugging. "I think she looks cool."

Soon, they were back to squabbling for space, ignorant to the creak of the bedroom door opening...

Raoul bit his lip at the sight of the hoard, rubbing over the goosebumps breaking over his arms. "Those things aren't gonna get past them, right?"

...nor the quiet footsteps heading their way...

Videl shook her head, never once looking away from the fight. "Are you kidding? No way! They're super strong and-"

Meredith screamed, Videl almost biting her tongue before she screamed, too. And then, naturally, Raoul screamed. Finally, it was Ansell's turn, jumping out of the dark and into the light from the window.

They all stopped around the same time, wide eyes and gasps between them. Anselle slowly opened his arms wide, long sleeves of his pajamas spilling over his hands. "Why are you screaming?"

Meredith sputtered, jutting an accusing finger at him. "Why were you screaming?"

Ansell's brow furrowed together, shoulders rising in a shrug. "Because you screamed!" Anselle shook his head, tired of the circle they were going in. "Forget about that, what are you guys doing? And what's all that-" Ansell stared through the window, features bathed in the light of fire shining through the glass. "Is that Mom?" He asked, throwing himself against the glass, eyes unbelieving. "Is that Ma?" Ansell's head might as well had been on a stick the way it spun around. "What the hell is going on?!"

Raoul made an unsure noise, throwing his hands up the same time as his shoulders. "We don't know! They just told us to stay inside and ran out there!" Raoul suddenly pointed to Jukheyr. "Also, that thing's on their side."

Ansell rubbed the fog from the window, narrowing his eyes at the dark body that was, in fact, helping his moms. "Jukheyr's helping them?"

Videl gasped, hands thrown out to clench Ansell's shoulders - the boy hardly noticed. "That's it?! I always thought it was like, a huge ugly monster!"

Ansell seemed frozen, Videl's trembling hands doing nothing to jog him from his trance. "Jukheyr's helping them," he muttered again. Fire washed over the yard, the whistle of the wind around the house sending a groan through the woodwork. Ansell blinked quickly, hands fiddling with the locks on the window and pulling it open, much to the shock of his siblings.

"It's okay!" He exclaimed, one leg already out the window. "Just stay inside and get away from the windows!" With his other leg out, Ansell jumped, fear swelling in his stomach as gravity took hold of him. The three of them stood there for a second, looking at where Ansell had been.

Videl was the first to speak up. "Did he just jump?"

Meredith nodded. "He just jumped."

Raoul struggled to find the right words, eventually settling to simply ask: "Why?"

Ansell grit his teeth and went as stiff as he could on the way down, ground closing in and- there. Ansell hit the ground with a grunt, sinking a few inches into the soft dirt on impact. He broke into a sprint, making a line towards the fray. The closer he got, the stronger the scent of gore, the louder the roars, the hotter the flames.

Ansell stood on the threshold of the fight, where his mother's flames had been etched into the ground. In his mind, Amaris' words echoed...

"And now... now it's time to make a choice, Ansell. Pick a side, or do nothing and watch them fight. So, what do you want to do?"

Ansell stared into the wall of flames, knowing well what awaited he. And still, he threw himself into it. The flame sunk into Ansell, skin drinking in the intensity of the flame. It warmed his blood, fire flowing through his veins - it burst from his skin all at once, a screeching aura of fire soaring upwards. A phoenix, whether endowed with Jukheyr or not, flew down in a reckless charge and burst over the hoard. Ansell watched the explosion engulf a part of the crowd, pride rising in his chest.

That got him attention; from his parents and wayward god for starters. Holly and Nala both found Ansell easily, Jukheyr was facing his direction, headless still. The hoard, however, took heed immediately. All at once, everything shot towards Ansell, ignoring the defending four in favor of the boy.

What fight they were putting up against the four was forgotten, the hoard charging, burrowing, doing everything within their power to get by the defense. Jukheyr struggled against them, Holly's wax fighting a losing battle against the creatures. Above the fight, Holly watched the creatures struggle through her walls. The few that got through were quickly incinerated or otherwise turned to wax, but they were going for Ansell in their final moments...
 
Amaris wasn’t the first one to notice the change on the battlefield as Ansell appeared. Wading through the creatures as they appeared, she wasn’t really in a position to notice the way their attention suddenly shifted at the young man’s appearance. To her, they behaved the same whether they were aiming for the house, or aiming for someone on the battlefield. They had yet to be truly targeting her, after all.

However, even she couldn’t miss the bird-like shriek of the fire phoenix that plunged through the conflict, or Ansell’s name that burst out of the lips of the other three defenders. Amaris paused in her fight briefly, glancing over her shoulder even as the corrupted black blood continued to swing wildly at the oncoming horde. Now, she certainly saw the change in the behavior of their attackers, the way every single one of the mutated earthen creatures charged mindlessly towards Ansell. It looked like they’d finally managed to locate their target.

“Gods curse them,” Amaris mumbled under her breath, but a part of her couldn’t help but think how much easier this would make the fight. She wasn’t a defensive fighter, but the gods help anything that charged at her in a straight line. And if all the creatures were charging for Ansell, all she had to do was stand right next to him.

Amaris cut through the earthen monstrosities blocking her path, dashing back towards Ansell’s side. Black blood bubbled around her body, even as more of it oozed out from under her ruptured skin.

“Hey, kid,” Amaris said as she came to a halt at Ansell’s side, smiling briefly before spitting out a mouthful of black ooze that had forced its way into her mouth. The bloodwitch was obviously in her element in this hectic battlefield, unbothered by the hordes of enemies that now seemed to be bearing down in her direction. “Fancy seeing you here.”

With no further words, the blood began to spill away from Amaris, racing across the ground like a slimy mold, latching onto the legs of anything that drew close before it rapidly began to climb up their bodies. With Amaris’ bloody trap covering the ground, it left nothing but the air open to attack. With Ansell’s firepower added to the fight, and their target clearly defined, the insects stood no chance.

It was the same for the rocky golems that crawled out from the earth after the insects were obliterated, and the oozes made up of dead plant matter and fallen leaves. But even though Amaris was still fighting with the same level of strength, she could see the way the fires were fading, the wind and wax slowing its assault.

Amaris didn’t know how much longer her allies would be able to keep up the battle.
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Ragamoofin
While the behavior of the hoard may not have been immediately obvious, one person who had noticed was Ansell. A familiar look of shock had froze his face, eyes wide and unblinking at the mass of groaning, butchered faux-flesh rushing towards him. When the tremoring ground finally shook him out of his stun, Ansell's arms flailed out, drawing flame into them and blasting - the ground; he soared into the air, carried by the spires of flame from his palms. When he was - God, he was high up - decently far from the crowd, the eruption of flame stopped, force behind it sending him across the battlefield.

When he landed among a burning patch, Ansell drank in the flame and let loose another barrage of fire. Phoenixes, rising from the stoked fire, flew out over the field, burning trails in the wake and bursts of white with their impact. Hands glowing, Ansell took a shuddering breath. God, it was such a drain. Was this - magic? If so, it was awful. How was he expected to keep that up?

Apparently, he didn't have to. The crowd began - dying, he imagined. The sounds they made, and the eventual silence from the same beasts, told him something was at work. In fact, someone was. In a burst of black - oozing, from her diseased looking skin, was Amaris from the crowd. She landed at his side with a mess of beasts on her tail, dying ones.

Ansell took a brief look at her entirety, then found her face and smiled. "I know, not really my thing but-" Ansell's eyes flashed, hands coming up together in a tight fist, plunging out towards the crowd. A fiery bird broke from his blazing aura, hitting the ground and sending the heavier of the attackers back. Eyes dimming and finding Amaris again, his smile showed more teeth, shoulders rising and falling. "They're not givin' me much of a choice."

And like that, the battle took a turn. The insects, for all their numbers, were predictable. From above, they wound the very wind against them, skin turning to ash, metal binding their flesh as they struggled. The ones that survived through that were ensnared in Amaris' blood, Ansell's phoenix devouring them. It was a rhythm of sorts, constant and tiresome.

And relentless. Save the tide of blood oozing from Amaris, the rest of the defenders' attacks had lost their edge. Rightfully so, the mass was endless, ground birthing more as their numbers died off.

Jukheyr growled, drawing metal to craft a denser shield, waiting for a wash of flame to take care of the rest. The hoard crashed against the shield, Jukheyr losing it's consistency to escape the creatures as a liquid, spikes growing from it's reduced mass and impaling the creatures. It reformed next to Ansell, smaller and hackles forming into spikes. "We can't hold them back forever," it looked above - eyes narrowing at Nala and Holly. "And they can't keep this up."

Ansell followed it's eyes, cursing under his breath at the sight of them. "Just what do you want me to do?!"

Jukheyr growled. "Thumil didn't hold up to us together, we could combin-"

A roar of flame, phoenix cry cutting Jukheyr off, Ansell shook his head. "Are you crazy!? And what, burn everyone to a crisp while we're at it?" They weren't combining again, not if Jukheyr's intention was to burn everything. There had to be something else.

The winds howled, and the fire burned, but even his mothers' assault had waned considerably. The hoard wasn't giving up, not so long as he was still around.

Oh.

Ansell stared out into the crowd, to the hills behind them, crawling with the beasts but away from his family. "Amaris, Jukheyr, on me, please!" Ansell shouted and dashed out towards the hoard, Jukheyr not far behind. Ansell ran through the flames, soaking in it, holding it within himself. He breathed, steadying himself. He was gonna need it. "Can't believe I'm doing this." He stared over his shoulder, at Jukheyr, giving it a knowing nod. "Now or never, Jukheyr! Let's go!"

Ansell was glowing, features lost to his shed light. Jukheyr gave a ferocious growl and leapt at Ansell, the two meeting and burning pure white. The light streaked out, piercing through the hoard like a bolt of light, a scorched and blackened earth in their aftermath. The bolt had struck near the treeline, still bright and obvious. It remained for but a moment, then it was gone, diving into the woods.

It took a moment for the hoard to realize, but when they did, they all but peeled away from the house. As quickly as they came, they receded, hurrying back to the forest they'd came from.

Fire lapped over the ground as Holly landed, her aura dying down at last, hair falling over her shoulders. "Goodness," she whispered, breath coming shortly. "Was that - Ansell?"

Wind whipping up, Nala landed with a grunt, cutlass stabbed into the ground, legs trembling before Holly caught her. "I think so," she replied, watching in disbelief as the hoard fell back. Getting her footing, the wind crept up around her again. "They're leadin' 'em away. C'mon, before-"

"No!" Holly shouted, grabbing Nala by the arm, keeping her from flying off. "Nala, you're in no condition to keep fighting, and neither am I!"

Nala gave a growl, teeth gritting as she tried to push away from the ground, Holly's grip slowly heating up on her arm. "He needs us."

Holly met the other woman's glare with one of her own. "He wanted to protect us, just like he's been doing. Throwing ourselves into that mess, we'd only be making it harder for him!"

Nala's grip on her cutlass shook, and for a moment, it looked like she was ready to fly off. Only, she didn't. Slowly, Nala returned to the group, and without the wind cradling her, fell back into Holly's arms.

They remained like that, among fire and ash. Nala broke the silence. "He's one hell'uva fighter."

Holly could only sigh. "I'm sure he gets that from you."
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: Peregrine
As Amaris watched the fight dragging on, watched the way the energy slowly bled out of her allies, she began to worry. The horde of enemies had grown smaller, but that was only because the endless tides of monsters couldn't appear as quickly as the group of fighters was able to clear them out. But Amaris had no doubt that, as her allies started dropping out of the fight, their numbers would quickly swell again, and there was no way she'd be able to handle them on her own.

Something would have to change if they wanted to sustain this fight, but Amaris didn't know what it would be. There was a chance she would be able to defend Ansell on her own, but if the number of enemies continued to grow like this, how long would it be before Ansell's family, and the entirety of Ilsworth, was put in danger.

Unfortunately, even if she could see the problem, that didn't mean Amaris knew how to fix it. She was not a strategist. Her tactics had always been based around her unique nature, which let her pursue her foe with a dogged determination until they eventually collapsed from pure exhaustion. It had always been enough for her. It would be enough for her now, if it weren't for the risk it would pose to everyone that wasn't Ansell and herself. As infinite as the swarm seemed, Amaris knew it would have to come to an end eventually. Whatever was summoning it would exhaust before she did, no matter how long it took.

But there was no way that would be an acceptable solution to Ansell.

Luckily for the bloodwitch, the need to try and find a solution was quickly relieved from her shoulders. She turned at Ansell's shout, before ducking her way back through the mass of monsters towards the boy. She didn't know what he had planned, but that didn't mean she wouldn't listen to him.

However, before Amaris had a chance to understand what he was playing, her entire vision was enveloped by orange fire, leaving nothing but the rushing sensation as the phoenix scooped her up and blasted off into the forest. It wasn't until the flames petered out that she began to realize that they'd shot off deep into the depths of the forest, leaving a path of devastation in their wake.

They'd left the monsters behind, at least for a moment, but there was no telling how long that would last. Amaris immediately turned to Ansell, even as blood continued to gush from her body. Whatever was coming, increasing her pool in the time they were waiting wouldn't hurt. "Do you have a plan beyond 'get away from the farm'," she asked. "Or is that it for the moment?"
 
  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Ragamoofin
Ansell was still blinking away sparks out his eyelashes when he heard Amaris' voice, the fire he'd drawn in pulling away from him immediately; Jukheyr spun itself into being, fire siphoned from Ansell and collecting into a formless flame over the boy's head. "Ju- just wanted to get them away from the farm." Ansell breathed, grunting as he pulled himself upright. gathered fire leaving his side. He took a heavy breath upon standing, the drain of the firefight showing in his face. "If they're after me, fine. Had to keep them out of this."

Jukheyr made a crackling noise, the god finally deciding on a form, perching itself on a near rock that was turning molten. "No plan, Amaris," said the fiery vulture, huge and sweeping wings looking made of blankets of ash. It's face was an glassy arrangement, big eyes dark over it's jagged beak. "Less of an idea of what those things even want."

Ansell looked through the trees, to the crawling mob making their way back to them. They didn't have long until they caught up. "Do they look a lot like the hounds to anyone else?" They were hideous, countless and dangerous. That was practically the Wildling's signature. "You don't think - we had something to do this this?"

Jukheyr fixed it's stare onto Ansell, head cocking curiously. "What're you on about?"

Anselle huffed, turning and glaring intensely at Jukheyr. "I'm saying, we killed Thumil, and those hounds were from it, right? Maybe, I don't know, they're not too happy about that?"

Jukheyr's eyes never left Ansell, the boy slowly growing restless under it's stare. Anselle spoke up. "What is it?"

Jukheyr narrowed it's eyes, stepping off the rock to glide over the ground, settling up right in front of Ansell. "Did you kill it, Ansell?" The boy sputtered.

"Of course! You saw, I-I-"

"I saw you trying to save it. I saw you nearly die. I never saw that shrub burn."

Ansell was speechless, mouth going dry and throat bobbing. His belly swam with the tension flowing off Jukheyr, the god looking right through him. "What are you saying?"

Jukheyr took a far step back, keeping the petrified boy within it's sights. A glass talon extended from under it's wings, Ansell catching sight of the claws and cringing back, arms raised to protect himself. "Jukh-"

Slash.
Ansell's eyes saw stars, shut tight and awaiting the pain, the blood...

His chest felt cold. Ansell opened his eyes, blinking them slowly, arms still raised to guard himself. Jukheyr eyed him oddly, head cocking again. Ansell looked down, shirt cut down down the middle, buttons askew on the ground. Ansell swallowed thickly at the sight of green, dimly glowing in the light of Jukheyr, his newest scar an emerald one.

"O-oh, god," Ansell whimpered. "What did I do?"

Jukheyr didn't bother with answering him. It snapped to Amaris, throwing it's wings around Ansell as it screeched at her. "Give us some cover, quickly!" It couldn't be concerned with fighting off the hoard, not when it had more pressing matters at hand. Amaris hadn't ran from a fight yet, Jukheyr counted on that tenacity. It needed it, because now, it - it had to think.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Peregrine
As Jukheyr and Ansell settled into the middle of the woods, Amaris divided her attention between the two of them, and the rapidly approaching group of enemies. It seemed that whatever was spawning these wild monstrosities wasn't limited simply to doing it in the territory around Ansell's house, as the ground was already starting to heave up in the forest around them. Before too much longer, they would undoubtedly once more be mobbed under endless waves of enemies.

However, even the bloodwitch couldn't keep herself from turning around to stare at Ansell's muttered gasp. Her eyes immediately locked onto the glowing scar on his chest, and she couldn't help the small gasp of frustration and resignation that escaped her lips.

There were more odd and impossible things in the world than even Amaris could know. She was lucky, because she was immune to the worst of them. Neither magic nor curse nor attack could have any lasting effect on her. But the fact that Thumil hadn't died peacefully truly wasn't too much of a surprise.

That didn't mean she had to like it.

"Gods damn his soul," Amaris spat out irritably, blood flowing past her lips. If these monstrosities were somehow being summoned by the remnant of the Wildling, there truly was no telling when they would end. Amaris growled to herself, before her hands spread wide, blood flowing from her wrists like a waterfall.

"I'll hold them off," the blood covered woman growled. "You figure out how to deal with that damn weed of a shrub."

Echoing her words, blood began to gather around them, quickly building up from the ground, before forming into a familiar net. The bloodwall Amaris had used to contain the Wildling once more began to re-emerge, but this time it wasn't designed to keep anyone in. This time, it was intended to keep their attackers out.

Continually reinforced by her blood, the wall rapidly grew thicker, intermingled with the dark colored, corrosive blood she'd been using to fight before. As the dome closed over their heads, the first new wave of enemies struck them, battering fiercely against the wall. It trembled but didn't fall, and the dark blood wormed its way through the tide, reaching out to swallow up any creature it could touch.

Amaris smiled slightly, even as blood continued to leak out from every pore in her body. "Don't worry," she told them, blood bubbling from her lips. "I'll hold them off as long as you need."
 
  • Love
Reactions: Ragamoofin
Jukheyr watched with an oddly calm expression as the dome built itself up, caustic membranes rising up under Amaris' power. It had no doubt her barrier would endure, with the tar that oozed from her skin without end. They'd be safe, it'd have time, and Ansell would be -

Fine. No matter what.

The boy had fell the ground, hands feeling over his scar, practically luminous in the dark cover of Amaris' blood. He looked scared; his eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling, in the flurry of his panic. "I don't get it, I-I don't get it!" Ansell admitted, his voice high with the adrenaline in his blood. "Thumil's gone, I saw it!"

Jukheyr made a less than pleased sound, feathers brushing over the green scar, it's expression as lost as Ansell was. "Hardly, boy. Stop looking with your eyes and just feel." Talons, gentle over Ansell's skin, pressing into the scar, Ansell biting his lip with the faintest whine. Jukheyr stopped immediately, claws pulling away from the boy as if burned. "It's flesh...or a damn good imitation of it. Don't think it'll be as easy as letting it out."

Ansell felt over the scar himself, pressing his fingertips into the unnatural green, feeling it like he would on any part of his body. It didn't feel like the storm, or fire or anything out of the ordinary. Despite the color, it looked to be nothing more than a deep scar. "I...didn't know I could absorb people."

Jukheyr sneered, feathers rising in a furious display - and then settled, eyes roaming over Anselle. "Neither did I." Thumil. It was a thorn in it's side until the very end. Jukheyr had to admire it's persistence, though. With a swift brush against the ground, the tips of Jukheyr's feathers caught alight, Ansell wearing a very petrified look as the flaming tips neared him.

"W-what are you going to do?" Anselle asked, wincing when the feathers touched his flesh, fire a solid thing that pushed through his flesh. Painlessly, his power allow Jukheyr to all but reach into his chest. Jukheyr didn't answer, it sunk it's claws deep, disrupting the streak of green with it's fiery appendage. Ansell had never looked so uncomfortable. "What are you - doing!?"

"Hold still," Jukheyr instructed, eyes narrowing, form shrinking quite a bit. "I'm going to try something."
 
  • OMG
Reactions: Peregrine
Amaris knew she couldn't pay too close of attention to the conversation taking place between Jukheyr and Ansell. Even if she was able to control the blood that surrounded her like a part of her own body, that didn't mean she could do it unconsciously. She had to focus to keep the bloody wall around them strong against the constant onslaught of the abominations, while targeting those she could take out quickly and efficiently.

Despite the fact that the creatures outside were much weaker than the Wildling had been, this protective sphere was far more difficult to keep maintained. Jukheyr and Ansell wouldn't be able to see it, what with their view blocked by Amaris' blood, but they had already been buried underneath the oncoming creatures. They were appearing far quicker than Amaris could take them out by herself, forming an unnatural hill in the middle of the forest with the bloodwitch's dome right at its heart.

If she had been by herself, Amaris would have simply sat down and waited for whatever was powering the seemingly endless onslaught to run out. However, she had the nagging impression that Ansell would likely starve to death long before the tide ended.

Despite her recognition of the fact that she had to stay focused to make sure that Ansell and Jukheyr had as much time as they needed to come up with a solution to this problem, she couldn't help but get distracted occasionally as their conversation floated past her ears. Her eyes flickered over towards the two, raking up and down Ansell's chest.

Amaris had seen her fair share of curses in her time, but nothing that quite resembled the scar that ran up Ansell's chest. As a matter of fact, she didn't think she'd ever seen a death curse that had manifested itself quite like that, assuming the thing even was a curse.

Her wall shuddered briefly, and Amaris turned her eyes away once more, allowing her lids to flutter closed as she focused on feeling the protective wall around them. Once more, she focused in on patching any weaknesses, and sending out blood to dissolve those that were closest to pressing their way through the thick, bloody membrane.

If only they had blood to offer up to her. That would have made the whole process much easier.
 
Within moments, there was less of Jukheyr left standing; it was a swirling flame that wove into Ansell's flesh, setting his bones on fire beneath his skin, dark flesh looking to crackle under the heat. Jukheyr - or the fire that once made it up, sunk around the green running through Ansell.

It released it's form, letting senses fade into numbness, returning to it's original state; an essence, flowing from Ansell himself, but something was different. Power swam in Ansell's blood, Jukheyr's idle attention feeling like it'd set Ansell's blood ablaze. Jukheyr paid little mind to it; a byproduct of it's spell to heal Ansell, a new affinity for flame. He'd live.

Jukheyr quickly recognized another source of the alien sensation, it's own essence working around the obstruction in the flow of it's energy. It could hardly be surprised by the feeling of the Wildling persisting, Thumil's magic all but weaved into Ansell. Jukheyr could trace the extent of it's inclusion throughout Ansell's body, magic - mimicking flesh and tendons and bone. It was...stable. Whatever Ansell had done, he'd done it right, at least.

It called for the earth. Jukheyr could still feel the - connection between the stolen magic and the woods. Severed, curling in on itself, a piece of the wilds Thumil had once wielded. It was an invigorating, boundless force. The earth itself sung of it.

Jukheyr felt it all around, through the crude senses of Ansell. They'd been surrounded by the foul spawn, the thin barrier of Amaris the only thing keeping them at bay. Jukheyr threw it's essence outward, stretching past the weave of Amaris' blood, soaking into the endless tide of beasts and feeling the wilds raging within them.

Without a mouth, Jukheyr cursed the Wildling, and Ansell himself.

It should've died with it, only the Wildling didn't quite die. It's power was now Ansell's, and the earth itself wanted to reclaim it, no matter the form it'd taken.

Jukheyr pushed at Ansell's skin from the inside, flame shooting from the boy's flesh and erupting into a short display of sparks and feathers. The fire was drawn from Ansell as the charcoal color left his skin, complexion returning to normal as Jukheyr settled into a perch just ahead of Ansell. It had returned - frazzled, feathers raised as if was ready to fight.

"Thumil's ties to these woods are to blame," Jukheyr explain in a single growl. "It's magic, this land seeks it out." Jukheyr jutted a talon towards Ansell, the boy cringing back. "Seeking out him. They won't stop, not until they get him." Jukheyr looked away, listening to the thundering pound of the spawn. "They have to be stopped, or slowed or - something!"