Revan, Sasha Petrovna, Willow Howst, Omen Bridger
Sasha scrambled off of the ground and looked herself over. Bruised. Tired. Hungry. Thirsty. But alive. Somehow. At least after getting shot out of the sky, she didn't see how the day could get any worse. And then of course, the universe had to prove her wrong. After Revan's arrival and announcement, Sasha couldn't help but burst out in laughter. She doubled over clutching her stomach, tears in her eyes.
"I can't believe it." She said in between breaths.
"This is simultaneously the worst and the best day I've ever had."
When she was finally able to catch her breath, Sasha straightened up and without warning, charged towards the man closest to her, knife in hand.
-
Omen glared up towards the wolf before quickly taking Sasha's lead.
"Stay close." he called out to his two companions, channeling some magic and making a wide circle with his hands he muttered the word
"Ceeryaamo". The river to the right of the party started to ripple some, a thick layer of fog forming at the top of it before drifting towards the trio. Before the haze could cover the field, the dull sound of a crossbow bolt fired into Omens right shoulder. Luckily his magic barrier slowed the bolt enough for the wound to not be fatal, though the captain grunted in pain.
-
Revan's eyes widened as he witnessed the group not only not follow orders, but go on the attack immediately. "
A bold move.", he muttered as he watched on. He had thought that with the numbers advantage (and with at least one member of the group seeming hurt) that they would give up immediately. Either they were fools, or they thought they had a way out of this situation… if that was true, then with such strength and bravery, they might be useful to his escape plans… but he couldn't rely on that just yet, if they failed and he looked like a fool for helping them, then all his effort getting at least this much freedom would be squandered.
And so the answer showed itself. Magic. There was no other explanation for the cloud of haze that arose from the nearby stream… it seemed the large one of the group had made a tactical move giving them cover from the ranged attacks of his men, with the haze blocking the way, their accuracy would be seriously diminished. Even so, it would take a lot more than a smokescreen for them to survive this encounter… his men might not have had magic, but they still had numbers… For now, he remained on watch, not wishing to play his hand just yet unless he had to… his men still seemed confident in the situation despite it all.
"
These fools have chosen death! Give them no quarter!" he barked, rallying his men to attack… anyone who had been hesitating before now leapt into battle on his command.
-
Willow quickly took flight behind Omen and Sasha. Once the mist settled over them, she began to draw on the air, lines of light can be vaguely made out before she finished the last stroke. A large avian creature burst out of the circle and let out a loud cry as it broke through the mist. It hovered over the group for just a moment before diving full speed onto the man with a crossbow, its talons stretched out to slam down against the opponent and to drag him up into the sky.
"Omen, need a heal?" The conjurer asked, landing beside him and looking worriedly at the bolt. Under other circumstances, that shot could have been fatal.
-
Sasha slit the man's throat before he could react. Then, she jumped back into the middle of the fog for cover and activated her Sopia. As she retreated, a bullet grazed her left leg. She stood back to back with Omen and Willow, the three of them forming a sort of triangle outwards to their enemies.
"Getting kind of slow there aren't you old man?" She teased.
"Couldn't you have gotten the cover up a bit quicker?"
Including the one Willow had gotten, they'd taken out two of the goons. They'd managed to surprise them by going on the offensive immediately but things weren't looking great. There were still 8 men left, plus the dog man who looked strong. And two of them were already injured.
-
Alright, maybe he had underestimated them, he was already down two men due to their strange magics, and it was a safe bet the third one had something up her sleeve as well. He couldn't very well sit here and make this easy for them, could he? And now that two of his men had been quickly picked off, the others were being more cautious in their approach. He sighed, and cracked his knuckles, hopping down from the little vantage point he'd had, and approached the back of his line of men. "
Alright, looks like if you want things to get done the right way, you have to do it yourself, eh?", Revan laughed. Sure, they had the advantage in their little mist cloud, but it was obvious this advantage was also their weakness. They wouldn't be able to see what was coming, or what lay outside the cloud. He raised his hand and gave a non-verbal signal for his men to back up.
'
Time to show them they're not the only ones playing with magic…', he thought, as he clasped his biceps with his opposing hands, and ran them down the length of his arms until his hands were connected. The tattoos running down the length of his arms lit up, and he planted his hands on the ground, focusing energy into the ground beneath the mist cloud. The ground beneath the group rumbled for a second, but it was almost certainly too late to make a move. A giant tree burst through the ground, growing to maturity in fractions of a second, shooting through the top of the mist cloud. The energy from the sudden growth caused the ground around them to burst as roots extended out, sending the group flying out of their little mist pocket. He'd hit them right on target, because the group had been split almost perfectly outside the mist cloud by his attack, probably doing whatever they could to recover from the sudden explosion of earth beneath their feet.
The tree grew still taller, but the edge of the cliff face that he'd had their group pinned against couldn't properly support a tree that large so suddenly, and the earth began to groan and crumble as the tree lurched towards the edge of the cliff, the roots hanging on to more solid land (and holding together a chunk of ground beneath it) as it leaned over the edge, rocks and dirt clattering to whatever depths lay below this land. His men scrambled back away from the subsiding ground, and finally, the tree had had enough. Roots ripped up from the ground crumbling more precious footing as the tree finally fell, sending a cascade of stone with it. The earth roared as a significant chunk of the cliff fell away… anyone in the forests nearby could probably hear the racket… here was hoping that more than these three had survived the wreck and would investigate the noise, but it seemed unlikely that any more people would have survived that wreck. Still, these three were here, so maybe they had some hope.
The three were still on land (luckily for them) but the entire scene had changed. It was as if a giant had taken a bite out of the cliff side they had once been perched on. The woman who'd been laughing at the start of their encounter was recovering from the attack a few feet away from him, and he quickly covered the distance in a few steps, and plucked her up off the ground with one hand with ease, hanging onto her by her clothes, rather than risk hurting her by going for the neck. His men were to his back now, and couldn't see his face… all part of the plan.
He laughed heartily as he hoisted the woman up to be face-to-face with him and looked her in the eyes. "
Who's laughing now? You ought to have listened, you know. You wouldn't be in this mess otherwise.", he lectured her loudly, his words were meant more for his men than the woman dangling from his clawed grip. He brought her even closer, so that there were mere inches between their faces, and spoke again, in a decidedly lower voice. Whatever he said, his group wouldn't be able to hear, probably assuming it to be more bravado-filled scare tactics that such vermin were so fond of.
"
You only still live because I am doing my utmost not to kill you.", he warned. "
I don't have much time to explain, but I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have to…", he raised his chin, looking down at something he couldn't see, but Sasha probably could, easily. A tight metal binding around his throat that was obviously not a fashion statement, as it didn't match his other clothing at all. "
I know it looks like I'm in control here, but, if one of them gave me the order right now, there would be nothing I could do to save you.", he whispered, a grim look on his face. "
Eliminate them, and I will be in your debt… If it comes to it, I apologize if I'm ordered to kill you.", he stated, before tossing her aside like a ragdoll, sending her over to one of her other companions. He'd spent long enough talking to her, he didn't want to arouse suspicion from his men and hasten their doom. Better to "play with them" and give them the opportunity to survive this, and ensure his freedom. Their odds weren't looking very good, though.
He turned to his men again. "
See? They may be able to perform magic, but they are just men. There is nothing to fear.", he announced, walking back past them again. "
You have the advantage, clean them up!"
