Lost Hope: Return of Dragon's Talon

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Inara & Caela, orange

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Inara was doing fairly well in the fray, she had managed to maim most of the men who came her way so they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone majorly. She killed only as a last resort....She looked around as she sliced another mans tendons on his thumb.....he wouldn't be able to hold anything properly again...but it was better than dying. She noticed Lady Eleanor struggling...and an enemy was coming up behind her she didn't see! She opened her mouth to warn her, and made to move that way, but a loud exclamation beat her to it.
"PRINCESS, DUCK!"
Her head swiveled just in time to see a flaming dagger- extinguished now- leave Caela's hand and sink into the foe that was about to strike Eleanor. Impressive; so the young lady has magic, interesting. Still, Inara worked her way to the fiery youth.
Caela heard Inara coming before she saw her; Caela was too busy fighting an extremely skilled mage before her. Of course, they knew of my abilities, so they pitch a water mage against me...The young man before her was a water mage....who also seemed to be good at healing himself. Every time she struck him, he healed within a minute. She couldn't get very close, as this man was armed with a very hefty sword, and a scythe. Too long for her to get in close. "Need a hand?" Caela didn't even grace her with a response, just shifted her position slightly to include her.

"All of you, crouch." The voice boomed over the entire arena. Caela and Inara both immediately hit the floor. Unfortunately, the man before them did as well. Storm clouds formed out of thin air, and lightning flashed. Caela and Inara stood hesitantly, both shocked at the number who had fallen. Han Young had collapsed...but the young water mage had survived...

Inara was the first to start the fray with the young witch beside her. She was surprised by the sense of raw power ebbing and flowing from Caela, she was indeed quite powerful. Inara and Caela were circling the young man before them, where she too noticed the unique abilities the man before them had.She smirked at the irony, fire and water. Inara swooped in and blocked the sword with her blade, and jumped over the scythe he aimed at her legs. She swiped her blade to meet his...but the scythe would be the problem. Caela saw her chance and took it. While the opponent was focused on Inara, she charged. Her flames wrapped around the scythe, and it quickly became too hot for him to hold even with his water trying to douse the flame that just kept coming.

Water immediately surged from his free hand to consume Caela. Choking on the constant flow of water Caela tried desperately to stop it with her flame, but it just made the water start to heat. The water was covering all her airways, and she couldn't breathe....she dropped her blades and clawed at her face, trying to get a breath...

Inara watched in horror as the water started to overwhelm the fiery Caela, and pressed her attack again. She had to break his concentration on the magic...but he was good. He countered all her attacks, but the water kept on flowing and circling the witch. She ducked under his blade once more, and stabbed forward. She felt her blade slide between the plates of his armor and sink into flesh. The man stiffened, concentration lost. Immediately, the water fell and Caela gasped for breath. Damn it. She knelt as she tried to catch her breath and grabbed her blades. She was angry. More than angry. Her eyes glowed more fiercely than before, and she surged forwards. This was a dead man walking. She whispered her trigger warning, and the flames billowed from her daggers and covered the man's face, swirling downward in a fiery tornado. Inara stared in shock as the man screamed in pain and dropped his blade. She quickly ended his pain and shoved her blade through his throat, and he fell to the ground.

Caela, dripping wet, showed no remorse for what she had done. "Thank you." Were the only words she spoke before turning to head to Aurel, who was bound to need help after his mentor fell. Inara headed that way as well, this would end much more quickly if they worked together. Caela was first to reach him, and nodded at him. Inara walked up to him and met his eyes. "You okay, Aurel? You need to focus, or you'll get yourself killed." She toned as she got into position again, ready to fight whomever came their way.

Caela eyed Inara as she so easily walked up to the prince and advise him. She also got into position, ready for a fight. [/dash]

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[Warenai hana]

"Don't!" Aurels response to Nori's request for aid rang out. He knew he wasn't on good terms with the majority of the group thanks to several miscommunications and his naturally cold appearance but such a response was still surprised him... that is until Aurel threw himself into the fight, successfully drawing an arrow. It was the last thing he expected. It wasn't like they were unfriendly to one another, though he never quite liked the Prince ever since their first meeting, but it didn't make sense for a Royal to stick his neck out in order to save someone from a dying noble family. In fact he absolutely didn't want Aurel joining his fight. If Aurel got a serious injury because Nori wasn't good enough to protect himself what kind of reputation would he be left with? No, he was going to draw the attention back to himself and finish this fight quickly, even if he had to be reckless in order to do so.

Nori nocked an arrow just as Master Haeryongdo's voice boomed out, "All of you, crouch." While mid stride Nori dropped into a skidding halt, he braced himself with one hand to keep his balance while holding his previously ready arrow and bow in his other hand. At some point during his crouching slide on hardened dirt ground Nori's hood slipped down fully covering his eyes just in time to block the blinding light from Han Yong's powerful magic. Before the flash faded Nori managed to nock his arrow and accurately loose it where the mimic had been standing just before he was blinded, further showing his skill as an archer. Unfortunately the Mimic had moved from his crouching position already, attempting to gain more distance between himself and his attackers.

Nori threw his bow to the side as he started dashing forward. He had the same idea as the mimic, during the temporary blindness he planned on closing the gap between the two as much as possible. Was this reckless? Perhaps. But it was a risk he would need to take. Aurel was not someone who should be risking his life for Nori's sake. He just couldn't accept it. Nori tossed his bow to the side and drew his sword in one swift motion before attempting to remove his hood. Unfortunately his shoulder finally had enough, between the constant loss of blood and the strenuous, awkward movements he had been forcing on it, his arm's cry for rest finally made him flinch. 'I should have just shifted my weight during the slide.' He scolded himself. Never the less he forced his arm to move against its will and knocked his hood off, revealing his bright fiery hair rivaled only by Caela. He didn't like the fact that his colorful hair made him stand out next to the dull silvers, browns, and whites of his surrounding but with the limited mobility of his non-dominant arm he couldn't be picky.

No longer blind Nori could see the mimic had retreated a few paces making the distance he had gained minimal. Not only that but the mimic was trying a new trick, his hair started to darken and the clouds which had slowly been vanishing suddenly returned. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was trying to do. Once again Nori pushed his luck, in one graceful motion he grabbed a knife from his boot and threw it into the mimics right leg, successfully canceling the spell. His shoulder's cries were even stronger than before but Nori would not stop. There was no way he would let a wound turn him into a liability. He would carry his own weight in this fight.

Nori quickly evaded the Mimic's next attack. A throwing motion now... finally Nori knew how the mimics magic worked. First it was arrows, then magic, finally throwing knifes. He copied whatever threatened him last. A limited but fearsome magic. Nori started to pick up the pace again, making quick jerky movements to dodge the unseen throwing knifes while closing the distance between the two. Unfortunately the enemy wasn't going to make it that easy for Nori and if it hadn't been for a sudden, overwhelming feeling of danger Nori would have run straight into the head of an axe. Nori sloppily jumped backwards, creating distance between him and his new opponent. The man was as big as a castle wall and more muscular than the strongest soldier in the queens army. Nori's teeth ground together as he counted his misfortunes. He was fighting two skilled opponents, with a hurt shoulder, and holding a sword instead of a bow. Honestly, this just wasn't his day.

Nori had already asked for help once and Master Haeryongdo did much more than he needed too, not to mention even Prince Aurel answered his call... did he have any right to ask for help again? Wouldn't that make him a nuisance? Nori started to swiftly move backwards before eyeing the situation. To his surprise Master Haeryongdo was on the ground, and all but three opponents stood. He was the only one separated from everyone else (also the only one to recklessly move in the middle of Master Haeryongdo's powerful spell) and the only one with multiple opponents left. He hummed his discontent to himself before finally stopping next to Aurel. He glanced at the prince before looking back at the big oaf who was pounding his chest while holding an axe (which probably weighed more than Nori) in one hand. "What? Are you afraid of me little lass?" His voice rang out amidst his laughter. Ignoring the taunts Nori mumbled uncomfortably to Aurel, "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting Master Haeryongdo to go so far... I hope you will forgive me, Your Royal Highness." Although the formal speech probably wasn't necessary in such a situation Nori never liked to talk to others casually, even his closest friend had trouble getting him to simply call her by her first name, even when they were alone.

"I would like your help again, but I don't think us two will be enough..." Nori spoke even quieter. He wasn't used to asking for help, nor was he used to working with others (though he was excellent at 'unintentionally' supporting others, he didn't like to see allies hurt or killed.). "I humbly request your strength."

 

[Applo]

His muscles screaming in protest, Torgeir hurtled towards the chest thumping giant. For only the second time in his life the thrill of battle was far from his mind. He'd never seen men this large away from the Island before and if this monster did have the blood of the Island people then death would have followed him.

As he closed the distance Torgeir knew that his only advantages were surprise, as the giant's attention was on the flame haired bow boy and his companion's skills, though they had lost one of their number already. Torgeir didn't know what had happened to his friend but it didn't matter. If Han-Young was dead then he needed avenging, if he was injured he needed protecting and seeing as the others had gathered round the fallen priest the best thing he could do was attack and so with a cry of raw fury roaring from his lips, Torgeir leapt at colossuses back.

Eleanor didn't bother to turn when she heard the battle cry thunder across the battlefield, nor when she heard the clash of steel or even the thud of and groan of someone hitting the floor. Her attention was fixed on Han-Young. Using a small spell as a distraction she rushed past one of the few foes to remain and ignoring the cry of protest barged her way past the small knight girl and Aurel to kneel next to her closest friend. For a moment she saw complete stillness and her heart shattered as colour seemed to fade from existence as her worst fear was realised. Then Abruptly Han-Young's chest stirred in a shallow little breath and colour rushed back to the world. Standing up Eleanor wiped half formed tears from her eye and turned to face the danger that still threaten her friend taking a place next to Inara.

"I hope your skill with that blade are truly worth you being here" Eleanor said in not quite a whisper "If I die you make certain that my brother is safe."​

 

[Banana-senpai]

Aurel heard Caela's voice, followed by Nori's but he was on his knees and fumbling over the satchel attached on Han Young's belt. "I told you, 'don't'. I commanded you. Why won't you ever listen." Aurel growled, but his voice was shaky.

"It'll be alright, my lord, my lady. Han Young has told me what to do in this case. I just need...something." He rarely feared for his life although he knew its political value. Han Young was a brother to him and if he didn't hurry, Aurel would be truly alone for the first time since they met. Barely noticing his panicked casualness in referring to his guardian, Aurel focused himself and finally got the satchel off the belt.

Aurel spilled the contents of Han Young's satchel and confused them for a moment. A selection of vials, little sacks, and glossy stones scattered and Aurel's quivering hands hovered over them, analyzing which one to use. He saw the blue-green ring on Han Young's hand and whispered a rhyme in his native tongue about which stones have which spells. He got an identical stone and put it in Han Young's mouth carefully. He put a black stone in Han Young's palm and wrapped a piece of cloth around it so his hand stayed closed.

"Lady Eleanor, please tell me I did it right. Turquoise for the healing and shungite for the shield." Aurel stood up and readied his sword arm. "Then we must all fight together. Do you have a plan?" He turned to Nori, then to Inara and Caela. "We must coordinate if we all want to get out alive." He added urgently, glancing at Torgeir and Hildred.