Of Humans, Demons and Magic

It was much too dangerous for her to attempt to fight the creature on her own, and quite foolish as well, if she were to honestly believe that he wouldn't snap off her legs, should she try to run across the water. Then, foolish plans and ideas were what had always come through for her in the past when there was little option left to choose from. She wasn't ready to risk the lower half of her body just yet, considering that she didn't even know where Xenel was amongst the greenery for sure, but there were many other ways to be reckless. Leaving her weapon in its sheath, she strode up closer to the oasis, slowly and mindful of each step she took, before arriving some fifteen feet from the waters edge, where she sat cross-legged on the semi-moist sand. Her hands rested on either side of her, palms pressed firmly into the ground in case she needed a sudden push up into the air. She couldn't see Greg just yet, only making out the shadows that would occasionally blow in the breeze on the opposite end from where she sat. "Why do you protect him?" she called out towards no direction in particular, knowing the water would amplify her voice across its surface. Yes, this was surely a new level of stupid.
 
Greg heard her voice, and lifted his long crocodile snout out of the water, snapping into the air, rasing it's back up, yeah, Greg had definitely been bigger, where he once had been 40' from snout to tail, he was now eaislly 67' from snout to tail. It looked at her, it's eye's yellow, as if inspecting her, he then raised his head more, standing up slightly, his chest was covered in moss, his back completely scaly, "LEAVE NOW." He bellowed in a deep voice.
 
Ashkara's head slowly moved upwards as the body of the reptile emerged a good portion from the water, her gaze travelling up his mossy, green chest, past his long snout with its two, flaring nostrils and landing steadily on his slitted, yellow eyes. She didn't flinch. Extensive training refused to allow her that small release, as much as she wanted to jump and look away from the sight, she couldn't. Something like self-pride forced her to remain eye contact, lest her looking away deem her as a lesser and unworthy person. In defiance to her best attempts though, her heart beat rapidly in her chest, sending adrenaline rich blood pumping through her veins fast enough to create an echoing pounding in her ears. Once she had started something, it was going to be hard for anyone to convince her to deviate from what she had decided, so she simply sat there. "Make me," she answered in an even tone, muscles tensing in anticipation of Greg's reaction to this. He clearly didn't answer questions, so her pointing the fact out to him or asking why she should leave, would probably result in little more than another demand.
 
"WHAT?" He bellowed, rising slightly more out of the water, only his knee's and below were underwater now as he stood fully, gazing down upon her, swishing his tail along the water, and then turning a full 360 degree's his tail heading for her body to knock her down, amd very quickly kill her.
 
Ah... So that was what the any meant by Greg being part human, for crocodiles could certainly not stand on their back legs in such a way nor, more obviously, speak. Again, she refused the urge to flinch at the booming sound of his voice, although she did partially regret the way her words had come out, but not by much. Her eyes widened as she say the tail swing around, skimming across the surface of the water at the pace in preparation to smash into her. At the last second before impact, she thrust her body upwards, using her palms against the ground, allowing herself to weigh near to nothing after the initial force of the push propelled her skyward. "Let of pass," she answered, barely level with the reptilian creature's belly before beginning to descend, touching herself from the pretzel knot as she did so. "My business is not with you, Greg." She landed lightly on the balls of her feet, arms out to the side in order to assist her balance.
 
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He nodded a bit, his voice now lower, Greg spoke casually but it was still rather loud. "Ahh ... so your the one Xenel refuse's to fight ..." he shook his head, "Don't know why ... if I were him I would have killed you by now ... however ... you do seem somewhat strong ..." he pulled a large silver scimitar from behind his back, and then another holding them in both hand's, "I suggest you leave right now ..." he said, spinning one of the blade's.

Xenel still sat in the bush's, staying quiet and undetectable.
 
The girl shook her head, several loose, green strands of hair falling from her ponytail to become a thin veil in front of her eyes. She tucked them neatly away behind her ear, not recalling having put her hair up in the first place. "I do not take suggestions, only orders. Unfortunately, not from you though, I'm sorry to say. They want Xenel dead, so it is my task to make it so." She acknowledged the compliment on her outward appearance of strength with only the slightest of the polite smiles. Even in a situation of possible death, Ashkara's manners stayed closely intact. Her gaze lingered away from his eyes and towards Greg's hands, watching the two deadly weapons in expectant silence. Perhaps the danger lied not only in his size, but in more common means of elimination as well, such as the skills that accompanied one who used a blade in battle. How she would be able to block such weapons though, was beyond her. If she could apply enough pressure perhaps, making them heavier so that they would remain on the ground after an attempted attack with the twin scimitars, then maybe... She sighed softly, recognizing the slimness at the chances of success. "I would rather we didn't fight," she stated, knowing very much that Ash would happily take her place in order to battle the water creature, should she grant her permission to do so, but also knew that she wouldn't be able to get to Xenel if such an event were to take place. Ashkara reached over her shoulder and drew her sword in a firm, two handed grip, blade crossed over the front of her legs and gently touching the ground with its tip. "But if you leave me with no other choice, then so be it."
 
Greg let out a menacing chuckle, baring a row of his teeth, "Very well ... if you are to continue then I have no choice." He began moving up slightly, "Do not worry though ... if you die I shall make great use of your body, I have to eat afterall." He stepped out of the water, his body very scaly, he gave a sort of bow, and then got into a stance, one blade held down behind his neck, the other raised forward the blade tilted down toward her.
 
(( Sorry, needed a break from roleplay for a few days. ))

Ashkara stared up at the position of Greg's weapons, not recognizing his stance and what form lied behind you his unmoving limbs. She acknowledged his acceptance of her challenge with a half power of her own, bending forty-five degrees before standing straight again. One hand released her sword, while the other held it menacingly above her head, pointed evenly towards her opponent. At the same time, one leg casually slid forward as her body turned sideways, away from him. A common starting position that was frequently seen amongst those of the upper-middle class soldiers.

Looking upon the large figure and hearing his words, she surpressed a shiver. "Please, Monsieur, after you," she said lightly. A calm smile took over her mouth and she knew that it was there to stay, similar to a poker face that would stubbornly refuse to give a move away.

She didn't want to hurt the creatures so long as she could help it, but then a distraction would certainly be required if she were to get across the waters. Safely, that is. Running over water was one thing, but trying to do so with a crocodile chasing after you was another and she wasn't sure if it could be done without harm coming to her if Greg were to follow. 'Defense,' she thought firmly, 'just stay on the defensive for now and avoid what you can.' A voice in her head laughed scornfully at her plan.
 
((No prob.))

Greg chuckled a bit, "As you wish ... madam." He said mockingly to Ashkara, and then snapped his jaw's taking 2 quick step's toward her, and swinging his blade's toward the ground, baring his teeth at her, he would do whatever he could to stop her, swinging his blades more.
 
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She danced amongst the speeding blades, skipping this way and that to avoid any major injuries, and even slight ones when she could. One particularly dangerous thrust brushed within millimeters of her cheek, leaving a tang of chilled metal in the air as it swooped out of reach once more. A small part of her was grateful that her hair was up and out of the way, lest it have become a distraction and lost her her life. Her own blade was small and appeared flimsy in comparison to the metel of the reptile's swords, so much larger and built for his size. She made do of using the weapon for all it was worth, holding it up flat against the sharp edges of the offending metal whenever her body was not quick enough to dodge a blow. Using it as if it were a weapon of equal thickness would be later frowned upon, so she refrained from doing so. The sword could, in actuality, probably very much stand the pressure of the scimitars, but it was still best not to test the strength of even an enchanted blade such as hers.

A pattern with quickly formed. Legs, head, feign, thrust, parry, thrust, step forward, scissored blow, repeat. At least, that's what she thought his pattern might be. Every time he swung at her legs, she would typically jump, which would then be met by a slash aimed at her risen head. Realizing this, she went through the motions for another round before, directly after the low swing, she leapt higher off the ground than previously and landed neatly on the hand that usually just missed her face. She froze, uncertain of how to continue, then spurred up the several lengths to his upper arm. With a silent prayer to the heavens, she thrust your sword into the hardened flash, working the blade under the protective overlapping of the scales before leaping down to the sand covered earth. She left her sword still embedded in his arm, but didn't pay it much mind as she ran straight for the waters and her prey on the other side. Her prayer, as it seemed, was for her blade to be heavy. With an insatiable sense of needing to go as deeply towards the center of the world as it could. Yet, the only thing stopping it from achieving this goal was the arm it now pulled mightily against.
 
Greg the crocodile screamed in pain as the sword was thtust inside of his arm, the pain immense, though the sword was no longer than his pinky finger, he dropped the scimitar's and attempted to pry the blade from his arm, but not able to, it was stuck in an artery along his arm, it could possiby be a killing blow if the girl was lucky.

Xenel watched in amazement, then pulled his own blade out for defense.
 
Part of her watched in guilt as the large creature cried out in pain, wincing at the volume of the sound. 'Apologize!' that same part of her demanded. If voices could cry, then this one was certainly doing so. 'Y-you...sh-shouldn't...h-h-h-he didn't...' The voice of Karra trailed off pathetically in a mixture of sadness, tears and hiccups. Ashkara shook her head slightly in disbelief to the other's reaction. "You're lucky I didn't try for his throat," she spoke softly to herself, and somewhat scoldingly. These thoughts were a distraction and she needed to focus, which was hard to do with the sound of a sobbing child clouding her decisions. 'N-now...you're gonna...gonna...k-kill h-h-him, too...' She groaned as more wailing on the girl's part soon followed

Ash, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the response to the stab, pressing home the younger selves wounds. 'Shut up, 'Karra',' she declared mockingly. 'We'll play with him a bit, let him think he's won, then stab him through the stomach for a nice, slow and painful death. Hey, maybe she'll get his lungs instead, since I can't do it!' She sounded almost delighted at the idea, allowing the other girl to cry only the more louder.

Gritting her teeth together hard, she pressed her palms against her ears in an attempt to block them out, to no avail. She was certainly not going to do such a thing as force a painful end to the poor boy. It wasn't completely his fault that there was a death sentence hanging over his head, so the least she could do was make it swift and painless as possible. No longer fearing the water, she made quick work of jogging around its perimeter, sharp eyes intensely watching the greenery, despite the distractions.
 
Xenel stepped out, his blade at his side, sparkling with electricity, small pop's of it hitting the ground as it crackled, he was frowning and looked sadly up at Greg, shaking hus head and looking back at the girl, "This is it then? Try to kill me? Save me? And then try to kill me again ... you may as well left me to die under the sand ..."
 
She frowned. "That wasn't my choice. Personally, I would have rather died under those sands myself before vowing to spare your life as Ash had. It was very uncharacteristic of her, actually..." She lapsed into a moment of thoughtful silence, eyes wandering over to stare at his flashing blade. His sword was certainly impressive and it amused her to think that if she wasn't after the bounty of his head, she may have asked how he managed to bend the will of electricity into his weapon. Snapping her eyes away, she settled her green ones squarely on his of Ruby. "Why didn't you kill me before?" she asked in an even tone, although her eyes held a barred look of curiosity. She subtly shifted the weight of her body onto her back leg, leaving her other one and ams free for easy movement and stability.
 
Xenel tilted his head, "I prefer not to kill ... however I do when necessary, unlike you and your organization." He scoffed a bit, and raised the sword slightly, moving some sand with the tip of his blade. Then back at Greg's screaming form, his lip's trembled, "Very well ... however if I die today ... you need to relieve Greg of his pain ... and not by death ... he has been very good to me ... amd I shouldn't have brought him into this."
 
"Even if you hadn't asked it of me, I already would have done so. I have very little say in the matter of relieving his pain for two reasons, with a third one being my own reluctance in having to harm him in the first place. It was necessary though. The first one is that I must, eventually, retrieve my sword. The second..." Her eyes narrowed and she pressed her lips together for a moment as if bearing a hurt of her own. "The blue one," she tapped lightly on the side of her head, "refuses to be silent. It might be weeks if I leave Greg in his current condition, and months should I kill him, of her endless weeping." She rolled her eyes in a show of her irritation even the thought of having to listen to her for so long. Though, she neglected to mention that Karrawould cry indefinitely for yet another death -Xenel's- she was unable to stop. If there was even the smallest of hopes that it would be lessened if she helped the reptilian man, then so be it. With the toe of her boot, Ashkara dug small spheres into the ground at her feet, kicking them up effortlessly so that they floated in the air around her in tightly packed balls of dirt, grit and mud. There were four of them so far with a fifth lazily rising and a sixth in the process of creation.
 
Xenel nodded, "Thank you ..." he whispered softly, he raised his sword in a fighting stance now, "One on one?" He asked, "No interference from anyone else?" He asked, looking in Ashkara's eye's, he didn't plan to kill her fully, it was too below him, after all, one of them had been somewhat kind, and he owed her the right to live on, as for the other 2, he grit his teeth a little bit, one way or another he had to make them see reason to quit the organization and escape.
 
Her eyes flashed blue but for the smallest fraction of a second and an apologetic smile flitted over her suddenly softened features; returning back to her previous expression, albeit somewhat more baffled. Realizing what must have happened, she swore softly. "Know your place," she warned sharply under her breath, clearly not aimed at Xenel. Whatever the response to this, it was not openly expressed as Ashkara's attention then returned to the boy. She raised a questioning brow. "Anyone else including....?" For head tilted slightly, mouth quirking upwards at one corner. There were close to a dozen of those earth balls circling around here now, sent rotating by a gentle push of her fingertips with her being their center of gravity, like the Sun was to the planets. One of her favorite tricks. "Ash may try and come out, but she's under vow to not harm you. It only becomes void if she forgets having given it, but that's another matter." In that case, she would also lose her bondment to him, no longer under the rule of helping him when needed. A demon on the loose. Or rather, a cambion of sorts, although she was certainly formed through no normal reproductive procedure.
 
Xenel sighed a little bit, "I know the other two will not kill me ... however ... perhap's you have allies, just as that man came for me, and then you ..." he stopped as he noticed what she was doing with the earth balls. "Earth?" He said, watching her, smiling softly, "Hmm ... I wonder if there's any sand in those ball's of yours ..." he put his blade up in a defensive position, if there was sand he could turn it to glass with a few quick zap's, he wondered if she could control it still then though. "Anyway's guess were done talking."
 
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