Rise of Darkness (Alvis & Malicious Lullaby)

Ewyn did as he said, able to conjure up her shield like it was no difficult work at all. Goodness, if it was easier to do this in her sleep, she should sleep more often. Once it was there, the white barrier surrounding her, she looked to Alduin, listening and changing her thought process of her ‘fence’ as he spoke. Rather than wood, she turned it into the stronger iron, topped with barbed wire with extra spokes for maximum damage, so sharp that just a single touch, slightest was enough to draw a single drop of blood. It felt stronger, or well different and she could really feel it now, like it was something else entirely, the shield even being conjured in reality as she slept.

As he spoke again, she nodded her head but her eyes widened at his suggestion. Rather than simply detonating it in repeated pulses of strong energy, he wanted her to shatter it. She swallowed hard, that would be something else entirely. She did something like that the previous day when she and Faryn had been chased by the Ghouls. She could do it again but she feared if it exhausted her while she slept. Or if it was even real enough to do that to her.

“Shatter it now? Right now? You want me to do that? It won’t hurt you all, right?” She only wanted to make sure. She did want to shatter them. She kind of wanted them to stay as apart of the staff so she could call upon them and their power if ever need be. She liked that assurance, that sort of reliability.

Alduin chuckled at Ewyn's question.
"Harm us? My dear, you are amongst Abjurers." He chided lightly. As he spoke, innumerable barriers sprang up, walls of earth, stone, fire, fast moving air, and even a few shimmering barriers siimlar to what Ewyn projected. They all seemed eminently prepared for what was coming. "You see? We are all more than capable of being prepared for anything that you might do. We are, after all, in possession of migicks that are well above what you currently know. But in time, perhaps, we can remedy this. Now, shatter the shield, and project the shards outwards. Give it everything you have.

The look on her face was that of an ultimate ‘oops.’ Of course, silly her to think she was actually strong enough but at least it was common decency to look out for their concern, even if they were remnants of a sort, of the magic within the staff. She looked about to see them all conjuring up their shields of a variety and smiled. She felt kind of at home here. Just a little bit, not enough to want to sleep forever to remain with them but it was nice to know that there was more help where she needed it. Took some of the weight off of Master Gall’s shoulders and that made her even more happy. She was supposed to aid him in the best way she could, not add to his struggle or burden of keeping peace with this upcoming war looming over their shoulders.

Ewyn took a deep breath and she felt her shield break, enough to give her that edge she needed to push harder. She took a step and her hands released and she felt the large wave of everything she had in her subconscious-unconscious state push through and it felt more taxing yet she was still standing. Her shield had been outfitted with spikes, barbs and other sharp implements to push outward in what she hoped could be seen as a lethal shatter. And she did, pushing them, shattering them at a fast pace, she felt the surge of energy and wind fly by her and away from her. Her hands had lifted over her head as she readied to detonate, shatter her shield and she separated them, waving them out just as she signaled it out, pushing it away, shattering it and feeling like she had heard the shatter, the crack, the crash, the explosion.

It probably wasn’t that big. But it felt like it was, it was all she had and knew how to channel and push out. She only hoped she was doing it right, making it lethal enough and showing possible promise. She did it once, she wanted to be able to do it again and keep on being able to do it without it hurting or being such a huge damper on herself. She could do it.

Alduin watched as Ewyn set to task. She was eager to get things done, adn that was a good trait for a mage to have. It showed a lot of promise and potential for her. He wasn't sure exactly what was coming for her, but he had the thought that if Gall had been willing to give a staff as old and storied as the one he ahd to an apprentice, then it must be dangerous indeed. All hell was likely going to be breaking loose. Ewyn would need to do more than learn new and potent tricks. She'd have to get enough practice at them to make it second nature. The amount of time that it took for a mage to get a spel off was very often the difference between victory and defeat. He watched as her shield shattered into shards, just like he'd told her too, and shot out with a more traditional detonation. The shards embed themselves in the barriers that had been set out.

"You're learning. And quickly! You show promise Ewyn. And now, what you need is the practice. And what I can do to help you with this, is release you from the dream. But when I do, I will leave you a mental excercise that will run while you rest. It will help teach your mind to more easily find the path to these spells. A few nights like that, adn they'll be nearly subconcious, coming to you as easily as breathing." He explained to her.

Practice. Yes, she realized that too because she watched at how effortlessly they all were able to conjure their shields, how it easy it was for Master Gall to do the same thing, as easy as breathing. Whereas for her, right now, it felt like she had to conjure up everything she had, all her strength and energy just to do anything with her shield. While it was already feeling relatively easy to produce it, it felt like a lifetime of exhaustion in one dose to do anything with it. Practice indeed. She bowed a little bit and smiled meekly, mostly from the fact that even in her state of subconscious, it exhausted her more than when she was awake. “I’ll appreciate that greatly, from all of you. My masters, my teachers.”

Walking over to the table, she sat down and rest her back against it, propping her elbows back and tilting her head back a little bit. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think I should leave. Go to sleep. Or so help me, I will crawl on those table to sprawl out and let you all watch as I snooze, while I snooze in my bed. Anyone with an objection, do not speak now and simply hold your peace on that.” She grinned.

There was a course of chuckling from the assembled mages there. Alduin nodded to her.
"By all means. You've some new things to try. And before you depart..." He reached his hands forward, and touched the sides of her head. A moment later there as a quiet surge of magic, a spreading warmth through her head. Her mind shifted just slightly, preparing itself for the task of rehearsing her shield. He nodded to her, and the room started to fade out. "Remember child! You can call on us should you need us!" He shouted. Soon the room went to darkness, adn Ewyn was back to being in a deep sleep. Her subconcious mind raced through the excercises, while the rest of her slept deeply.

Yoristan looked at the scrying plate, adn saw that there was something moving. Fast, and close to them. Whatever force was coming for them, it was coming soon. He'd not have nearly the time he'd hoped. He could only hope that he was ready for it.

Ewyn smiled a little innocently from her witty charm. She tried, she really did and considering the threat that loomed over their heads, there was never a bad time for some light heartedness. So she believed that is.
Her head tilted only so slightly and she looked to Alduin, nodding her head before she felt what her mind was doing, what it was willing and her eyes blinked. Just as she processed it, everything was growing distant, turning black. She heard Alduin as his voice faded before everything went completely black and she was gone. She thought of her shield repeatedly though as she slept, sleeping deeply.

Through the night however, her deep sleep kept being interrupted. Aside from her shield’s conjuring, it kept getting distorted and disturbed by memories. Of that day with Faryn when the ghoul attacked, how she detonated her shield the way she did before blacking out, the Oneiromancer who broke into her dreams; all of it which added together in a boiling pot of chaos kept disturbing her mind. She woke up incredibly early that next morning, the sun’s rays only kissing the early morning light blue sky. She wanted fresh air the moment she awoke.

After a quick bath and dressing in a simple crème dress without a bodice and her dark brown boots, she tied her hair back with her green ribbon, the ends only now showing signs of fraying after the length of use, before venturing outside. She didn’t go far. Hell, she just went right around the back of the tower. After some moments of inhaling the fresh air deeply, Ewyn knelt down and she untied her boots, pulling them off of her bare feet and letting them thread and make happy peace into the cool, fresh, green grass. It was a liberating feeling.

Her arms raised above her head, her back arching and she groaned lightly after feeling that satisfying pop and crack of her back and shoulders. After the thoughts that occupied her mind during her sleep, this was what she really needed. She was scared, kept thinking of the looming threat that hung over their heads and the more she thought about it, the more she soon realized that her shield kept appearing. She’d see it faintly, little wisps of white beginning to surround her and when she actually started to try it, it felt like it came easier. As if it being in her head before it got all chaotic was the perfect mantra. It felt better too. Lighter, a good feeling. And when she took little steps and pushed, she pushed her shield out, detonated it in small amounts that were little blows. Not strong but if she practiced like this, she could gradually make them bigger and bigger until it became second nature to simply knock a bastard off its feet or hooves or claws or whatever kind of creature it was in a satisfying victory. That was a good way to recuperate after thoughts that still brought her some terror at night.

Yoristan was up, drinking a tea, while eating a stuffed bun. He looked at the scry plate again. With a faint gesture, he opened a window in the wall. He was looking at the northern approach. And then he saw it faintly. Clouds. Dark ones, gathering in a rather unnatural formation. And they were both spreading out,m adn coming closer. Too fast to be carried by wind. He was on his feet, thoughts of a leisurely breakfast followed by some training for Ewyn abandoned. He raised his hands and gave a wordless shout, power reverberating from his voice. A loud, low droning sound roared free of the tower, the top of it giving rise to the noise. It carried for miles, an alarm that he was declaring to the villages. Trouble wasn't coming. it was here.

Yoristan swept down the stairs, his hand waving, summoning his combat robe. A heavy thing, a dark crimson with flickering lines of silver in it. He flexed his hands, loosening them. He felt the reassuring weight of a his half-glove appear on his left hand, small plates of rune-carved metal on the back of his knuckles. An orb of crystal appeared on his belt, glowing with energy, and he nodded to himself. He was ready for this. As ready as he could be. He swept outside.
"Ewyn!" He called, his voice carrying the subtle trace of magic to ensure that it reached her ears. "Arm yourself! Trouble!"

What broke her out of her little practice session was the sound of a voice blaring out so loud, her shield slowly disappeared, she stopped what she was doing and turned towards the tower. Moving around the front, she stopped in her tracks, nearly frozen at the sight of something dark and ominous heading fast and quickly. She turned her head slightly at an angle to better hear and her eyes widened. “Master—“ She started before hearing him address her. She ran back inside in immediate response but that was just because she was going to need help. She didn’t have nearly enough practice. It was already there. She was going to need to bring out the big guys. “Please don’t fail me, and I won’t fail you.” Ewyn whispered the moment her hand touched the staff.

She returned back outside and stood by Master Gall. There was a flow and surge of power and she took in a deep breath, enjoying the freeness of the fresh air once more before it was about to be tainted with something not so…fresh. Her grip on the staff tightened and without even trying, but simply being aware and ready, wisps of white began to surround her. It was time to dance.

That wailing sound carried exactly as far as it was supposed to. And the villages all looked towards the tower, and stared. The siren hadn't been sounded in a long time. There were children in the village who had never heard it at all. The inn keeper was hearding people fromt he streets into his common room, getting them seated. The building was a stout one, able to resist most kinds of attack. Faryn looked out the window towards the tower, hoping that whatever this was, Ewyn was all right. He heard a few laughs outside. There were a fair number of peopel who had such confidence in Mage Gall that they weren't bothering to take shelter. That was a mistake. Faryn had no idea what was coming, but he doubted that Gall would have sounded the alarm if it wasn't needed.

The clouds rushed forward. The wind came up, carrying a vairety of scents that Gall could identify easily enough. Rot. Grave dust. Rust. And blood. A lot of blood. And then he saw exactly what he'd hoped not to see. Ranks after ranks of gleaming bone. Skeletons. Marching, and carrying weapons. And there were just so many of them. Easily more than five hundred. Behind them shambled an uncountable horde of zombies, the stench rising from them a palpable wave. Here and there he picked out more shapes that he could identify. Here and there a pack of ghouls scuttled. And at the core of the force, was a raised platform made of fused bone. And there were forms standing on it. Five of them. One of them he recognized. Tall and pale, the vampiric Oneiromancer was leaning on a staff, and glaring at Yoristan. The form that sat upon a throne that looked like it was made of a fused skulls was one that Yoristan recognized. What was more, the form recognized him as well.
"Gall!" The man bellowed.
"Vannareth! What are you doing here?" Yoristan replied.

Ewyn swallowed hard. She watched, like she never blinked once as the enemy marksmen approach. They came so fast and it was like one of her night terrors only this time every time she hoped she could wake herself up, nothing happened. She was awake. This wasn’t a night terror. This was real. That was the real big problem. No longer did she think that she could do this, that she would be enough to help Master Gall. She knew he couldn’t do this alone but she no longer had enough faith in herself to be able to do anything than probably get herself killed. She didn’t stand down though.

Even as all the ranks came into the line of sight, she watched, clenching her left hand into a fist which only solidified her shield. Her gaze lifted to meet the Oneiromancer. She remembered him now. But he didn’t see as nearly as…charming as he had been in her dream before it all went down hill. But what was scarier were the vast armies of creatures fighting for the bad side. Zombies, fighters of skeletons, a mass of everything that would easily be the object of her nightmares and then there was the worst, in her opinion; ghouls. A shudder crept through her and threatened to negate her shield, her concentration and her ability altogether. She didn't let herself cower, no matter how afraid she was. She braced herself for the worst. Eminent death.

"I am here to begin my conquest of these lands!" Vannareth shouted, stalking to the edge of the platform. Gall cocked his head.
"Really? And I'm just going to give you my tower?" Gall asked him.
"If you value your life!" Gall grinned, and started to laugh. Vannareth grit his teeth and waved a hand. A regiment of fifty skeletons advanced on him, raising weapons. Gall blew out a sigh and raised a hand. A tiny bead of fire flew from his hand. When it landed on the ground, it exploded. A rippling wave of fire swept out, the force of the blast shattering the bones and sending them flying through the air. With a grin, Galled looked at the other mage.
"Face it Vannareth. You were never a proper match for me magically, and sending a mob of your...tools at me isn't going to accomplish much." The dark robed man laughed.

"I didn't bring only these minions! Behold!" Vannareth raised his hands, adn barked a few words in a language that hurt the ears to hear. It was wholly unnatural, and the magic that flowed into the air had a thick, oily residue to it, setting Yoristan's teeth on edge. From the air, shimmers came, and entire new hosts of the walking dead appeared. Some of them loked like heavily armed and armoured skeletal figures, but Yoristan knew better. Barrow wights, ancient dead risen to serve in war once more. They were powerful and deadly. Other forms were huge, the reanimated forms of ogres, trolls, and even giants. One form towered over them all, looking like Vannareth had actually raised the corpse of a fallen titan, and act of almost unmitigated insanity and power. "A shame you brought only a single apprentice to your aid!"

Gall nodded.
"Or maybe I just like keeping a few tricks back Vannareth." Gall answered, sedning out a pulse of his own magic and will. A few low hills around the area shifted, and then what had been buried beneath them came forth. Taller, ten feet at least, and made of heavy, painted armour, each war golem weighed nearly three tons. Smoke poured from the joins of the armour. In a language that sounded like nothing but roaring fire, but with a rise adn fall, a proper cadence of spoken word, announced their arrival. Five, ten, fifteen of them. The constructs waded intot eh ranks of the dead, weapons swinging. Bones and rotting flesh flew from each blow as the undead tried to crowd close enough strike at the golems.
"Kill him! Kill them both!" Vannareth shouted, a small group of lesser mages peeling away from their places to go towards Ewyn. A beam of black power lanced at Yoristan, who deftly parried with a round field of white light, and threw lance of fire back. The lesser mages all threw a hand forward, and a series of small balls of black fire shot towards Ewyn.

I can’t do it she thought, but a voice answered in her mind and she recognized the voice from last night. He was encouraging, strong and she could feel his strength as if it was her own but he was helping. He along with all the others. What if I fail? He negated it, saying otherwise and she was most afraid of doing just that. But if she kept succumbing to her fear and her doubt, she’d fail. He knew that and she knew that. She could feel the strength of several abjurers, legendary ones, course through her. Their energy being apart of her own and it made her shield as well as her defenses that much stronger.

Concentrate. Breathe. Focus. I can do this. And her head was filled with the encouragement of one of her favorite and most respect abjurers. She watched the first blow from Master Gall with amazement, her eyes wide and her grip on the staff tightening. It was a massive one, one that threw the marching skeletons away but then more came. Stronger, heavily armed and armored and looking all the more menacing, making the batch before that he had blow away look like fledglings. I’m a fledgling, she thought bitterly to herself.

But all negative thoughts were banished immediately when things got so real. They were charging her now and she stepped back, her shield following with her. Focus. Concentrate. She told herself as well as repeating Alduin’s words with his voice. Her shield took on sharp forms, barbs, boulders, armoring it with anything to throw out. She projected the spikes to put out the balls of fire that were aimed at her and then pushed out the larger boulders in the direction of the mages that were heading towards her. She used the staff to put an extra oomph of strength into each blow which sent them all back. Then she brought out the bigger guns, the sharpened tapers with barbs sticking out of them, prepared to injure, maim and even kill.

Breathe. His voice reminded her. She took a step back and swung the staff behind her before pulling it back in front of her. Lifting it up, she gained a lot of air and strength before she slammed it down. It didn’t necessarily touch the ground, but more like the air right above it, shooting out a shatter of barbed tapers, rippling through the ground.

Gall stomped his foot down, and two of the stones carved with runes int he field blazed with light, throwing back a wave of force that sent an advancing wave of skeletons flying back away from him. Vannareth aimed a curving bolt of darkness at him. Yoristan called up a half done of shielding, and blocked the bolt cleanly. If Vannareth wanted to play rough, he was game for that. Yoristan took a deep breath, clearing his mind of any concerns. He knew Ewyn was under attack, and he could feel the pulse of her magic at work. That told him that she was fighting back, not just burying herself in a shield and hiding. Which was good. He didn't want to have to pry a golem loose and asign it to her as a guard, but he had been ready to do it.

A bone giant grappled with a golem, the massive weight of the undead monster starting to unbalance the war construct. The golem shuddered a moment and then rebounded, flames pushing from the gaps int he armour. More words in that hissing language came, and an armoured fist slammed into the bone giant, an explosion of fire ripping out, engulfing both forms for a moment. The wash of heat was able to be felt from nearly fifty feet away, but whent he flames faded, the golem was lifting a heavy femur, and swinging it like a club to tear more of the enemy apart.

The black fire hit Ewyn's shield, adn rippled around it, as though trying to claw through it. Teh sudden surge of boulders coming to the shield pushed the flames back, and sent the rocks rolling at the attackers. They threw up their own shields, black and twisted things that sent a ripple of faint whispers and screams towards Ewyn. Her boulders sank into the shields,and the screams redoubled, sounding loud and clear, like someone in agony. The barded spike hit those barriers, adn the screams turned to shrieks, but one shield failed, the focus of the mage not up to the task. A barbed spike pierced his leg, causing him to fall to one side. The others dropped shields, adn threw a rippling wave of dark energy that withered the grass under it as it approached. A pack of ghouls loped past the mages, behind the wave, heading right for her, that familiar, but still bone chilling howl coming clearly to Ewyn.

It was piercing and made her ear drums vibrate painfully. Not like they would shatter but a sound not at all pleasant but she pushed with all her might, so thankful for the extra help, to not let it make her lose focus, especially as a dark wave washed by. She pushed her foot down into the earth, pushed her hand forward and projected a wave that pushed that dark energy back towards the mages that cast it. What made her froze, however, was that familiar sound, so bone chilling she actually froze.
“Ghouls.” She whispered under her breath, her mind threatening to replay the images the last time she dealt with them. Focus. Concentrate. Breathe. Alduin’s voice reminded her and once again, a surge of energy washed through her, making her thaw.

Remember what you did last night. Remember how you pushed yourself. Do it again. Gather it all up and just detonate it. Shatter it. Shatter them. She gathered the lot of it, stepping back but making it bigger. Bigger than even that other day. She had help, she was going to utilize it because without it, she wouldn’t have gotten past those little balls of black fire.

Ewyn heavily equipped her shield. Anything and everything from sharp, to heavy, to lethal, to molten hot, to everything that could cause harm but rather than it being like a sphere that she could detonate from all around her, she focused it and aimed it at the direction of the ghouls that were fast coming. Stomping her foot down, she clenched her hands together, bracing. Wait for it. He whispered. Her eyes closed. Breathe. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly and he didn’t even need to tell her. She let go, her hands opening wide and she took a step forward and pushed it all forward, shattering it directly at the pack of ghouls. In doing so, because of the way she changed her shield so not to engulf her but to point, she wasn’t shielded anymore.

Gall was not going ot give Vannareth a chance to get his footing back. He point at the clouds over them, and jerked his hand down. A searing blast of lightning dropped down towards the necromancer. Vannareth crouched, throwing a shield up. The lightning hammered into the field, deflecting it, though the mage staggered fromt eh savage power in the bolt. Spreading his hands to respond, he had to bring the shield back up as a barrage of small blue bolts of arcane power hammered out. They wouldn't do much damage, but they were hell to keep focused while being hit by. And it was scarcely an effort to focus while castinghteem, letting Gall hold a hand up, and gather a levy of fire into his palm. He chanted faintly, and the fire spread into a wide disc. He cast it out, a spinning wheel of flames that sliced through the mob of skeletons between the mages. Vannareth actually spat a few words, using a counter spell to weaken the flames before trusting his shield to stop it. With a heavy stomp of his foot, Gall summoned a pillar of stone right beneath Vannareth, carrying the man into the air, before clapping his hands together, his arms extended. The pillar shattered into sharpened gravel, pounding through teh zombies behind them, toppling a few, and sending Vannareth falling towards teh ground. Gall took a deep breath. That had been quite a few powerful evocations without pause, adn he swooned a second, needing to get his focus back. The ambeint magic int he air bolstered him, and he nodded. He point to the sky once more, adn then waved his other hand to send a line of lightnign along the ground. High above them, a small point of light was starting to burn.

The ghouls all leapt at Ewyn, mouths distended. Green venom dripped from the fangs, before the shield shattered into shards that flew at the creatures. as they passed through the wave of darkness, the tore pieces out of it, and did the same tot eh ghouls. Limbs flew in the air, and dark black ichor dripped tot he ground. Several of them made pathetic mewling sounds as they pawed at the savage wounds that Ewyn had delivered. The attacking acolytes paused at the sight, and exchanged a glance. And then threw themselves into an attack. searing lances of darkness burned at Ewyn, one of them kissing across Ewyn's arm, blackening her dress, and leaving a painful black patch of skin.

Faryn looked out the window again. He heard a terribly familiar screaming wail, and ran to the door. He saw a woman down on her back, a ghoul ripping pieces of her flesh off and stuffing them into it's maw, while she wailed beneath it. Mercifully, it took her throat out next, letting her die. He turned to the inn keeper.
"You close this door. And you block it with table. and do not open it for anyone, or anything short of Mage Gall." He said calmly. His heart was hammering in his chest as the man nodded.
"Where are you going?" He asked. Faryn looked back outside.
"To help." He jogged out into the rushing insanity.

He wove through the buildings, going into the blacksmith forge. Not much was there. But he lifted the heavy smithing hammer, adn nodded. It wasn't great, but it would do. As e stepped outside, he had to lean away from a sweeping claw of a ghoul. As it bore down on him, he swung the hammer with all his might. The iron weapon shattered the skull of the beast, laying it out. It fell, and stopped moving. He nodded. Time to go to work.

It was amazing to see that it was actually working, that she was actually able to push these mages and ghouls back. Well the ghouls back, not so much the mages but then again, she was a mage going up against a mage. Several of them in fact but she just hoped she could keep it up, keep doing it.
The moment she realized that her shield was no longer up was when she felt a gust of darkness hit her. She gasped and watched it burn straight through the arm of her crème dress and then kissed her skin so painfully, she screamed. Her knees wobbled and she fell to the ground, grasping the burning patch on her arm, the hand attached to it clutching tightly to the staff.

Stand up. Stand up! Don’t let it destroy you. It’s not over. Ewyn. Ewyn! His voice raided her mind, encouraging her and pushing her to stand. With deep, quick and what felt like labored breaths, Ewyn pushed herself to her feet, her legs shaking and her hand dropping from her burnt arm. Focus. Concentrate. Breathe. She repeated it in her mind with Alduin. Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, shakily but her eyes narrowed. She managed to steady her breathing, managed to get her focus off of the pain in her arm and thinking her shield once again. It surrounded her in an instant and as if with a vengeance, she pushed attacks from it. Spikes, more spikes and then she conjured up thicker tapers that were wrapped in barbs all around, some even wrapped in spikes, really sharp ones meant to tear flesh right off.

Easy Ewyn. She didn’t listen though. They burned her. They were going to pay. She pushed her foot into the earth, turning it left and detonated several spikes, several tapers all in rapid succession to the attacks. But she didn’t stop. She didn’t leave it at one attack like she had been. She took another step towards them and raised her arms up, opening them in a half circle motion to produce a ball of energy that she formed into a menacing blow, another shatter. One more step forward, she stomped her foot into the earth and with a small cry out, she detonated that blow towards them.

Easy. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. “They burned me.” She spoke out loud, simply saying it out loud fueling her anger and her strength.
Do not fall into that so easily. It’s tempting. It’s contagious.
“It’s—“
It’s addicting.

She calmed herself down, especially when she saw some of her hits hitting, taking out of a few of the mages but not enough. It wasn’t enough. “I need to do more. I can’t leave it all on him.”

You’re doing plenty enough. Just stay focused, centered and breathe.

She raised her staff, winding it back behind her a few times to create a whirl of energy, as if she was balling it up. She slammed it down once more, pushing it out forward, the ball of energy taking the form of detonating spikes that exploded forward.

The sounds of what seemed ot be iron shattering drew Yoristan to glance to his right, and saw Ewyn rip through a pack of ghouls. He hadn't taught her that. He ahd the thought that the staff might have been helping her, but he hadn't thought that she'd be able to learn so much so quickly. Quite the up and comer, miss Ewyn was. He put his attention back where it needed to be. Vannareth had broken a disc of wax, and the shimmering barrier that was up had defeated any attempts to penetrate it. Yorristan knew that the necromancer was gathering his will for a heavy strike, and that his own was a ways off yet. So he turned his attention to countering the constructed magic directly. His will slashed like a knife, parting the web of magic that shielded Vannareth. It cost him a lot of energy to do so, so he touched the orb at his belt. Power surged back into him, and he took a deep breath, and let it out. He saw ghouls bounding towards him, and flicked a hand at them, a huge fist made of pure force coming down on them, crushing them into paste beneath it. He swept a hand out, that fist crashing through ranks of enemies to head for Vannareth. The other mage unravelled the spell before it struck him, before unleashing hte spell he'd been building. A column of dark power loomed up, adn came hurtling at Yoristan, looking to bury him beneath a tide of rot. He countered with a searing blast of fire. The two energies ran into one another, and pressed in. They countered one another with a deafening crack, destroying one another. Int he moment of silence after that blast, Yoristan dispensed with subtlty, adn hurled a blast of raw arcane power at the necormancer, blasting the man from his feet.

Apprentice mages to Vannareth were down, their bodies bleeding and broken from the heavy blows that Ewyn had thrown at them. They looked on in relief when someone from the platform arrived to help them. The Oneiromancer looked at Ewyn, and smiled, his long fangs gleaming in the low light. As her latest blast of power came at them, he waved a hand, and the attack simply...passed through him. The apprentice mages took much of the blast, only two of them managing to survive. The Oneiromancer raised a hand, and from the ground rose shambling forms seeming to be made of the very earth. They locked close together, adn advanced, making a solid wall of marching, grasping earth heading for Ewyn.

Faryn slew another ghoul with the hammer, making his fifth one. He was panting, his shirt torn and ragged, but he'd thus far avoided being poisoned by the beasts. There was death everywhere, people he'd known for years no more than food for the hunger of the ghouls. He saw a few other fighting back, and he jogged towards them. He was halfway to them when he saw a blurring form streak to them, and their bodies seemed to simply explode in a welter of blood and bone. He stopped, gaping at what he saw. It was similar to a ghoul, but...different. Taller, much more heavily built. Long, blade like claws adorned it's hands, and it snarled with a mouth full of sharp teeth, but long, pronounced canines. He swallowed, remembering his mother speaking in hushed tones of things like this. Vampires, but...not. Strigoi. Feral, but all the more powerful because of it. They were often called Ghoul Lords, leading packs of the monsters, as this one was. He blinked, adn the creature was coming at him in a blind rush.

Faryn threw hismelf to the side, faster than he'd ever moved in his life, the hammer swinging. He felt a hard contact, and then he was past. The Strigoi was apparently unhurt, and came at him again. Faryn dodged the first swing, slamming the hammer intot he head of the monster, the way he'd killed the ghouls. The blow told, but barely staggered the beast, before a hand flicked out, so damned fast, adn laid open a wound onlong his ribs. Faryn stumbled, and fell. The Strigoi advanced on him.

After that last blow, Ewyn was panting hard. So much energy, so much power was surging through her right now, she feared it would leave a damper on her in the long run. She was using more than she was actually capable of. More than she actually had. But she couldn’t stop now.
Don’t give up now, Ewyn. Alduin was sincere, soft and not wanting her hope to diminish, especially since she might have had a nice victory in slaughtering most of the mages belonging to Vannareth but there was more to come. There had to be. Especially when she saw the Oneiromancer. He was off his platform and he smiled a smile that left her sickened to her stomach.
“I can’t do it.” She whispered.
You can. You have more than you realize.

She took in a deep breath and brought her hands up, rising a platform above her shield. With a wave of her wrist, she sliced the platform into three, three discs with razor sharp edges. It seemed it was in good thought that she formed that. That smile was burned in her retina, those fangs gleaming, distracting her, reminding her of when he bit her. She almost instinctively touched her neck if it hadn’t been for Alduin. Focus. Concentrate. Breathe deep. He instructed.

She knew why too. It was going to be a devastating blow if she did this incorrectly. She sent one razor sharp disc towards the wall of marching earth coming towards her, it hardly made a dent. She sent another, twisting her wrist to make the disc turn vertical and slice through. It made impact and split the wall in half, shattering it a little bit, giving her leave to send the final to her target; the Oneiromancer. Ewyn did just that, slicing her hand in the air so sharply, it detonated the final disc and it whirled right down in the middle of the crumbling earth, hurling right passed and directed pointedly at the Oneiromancer. She knew it wouldn’t be enough to slay him but maybe it would be enough to gear her up for a devastating blow, if not a final one. How was she to kill one like him anyways?

Yoristan swept his arm out, adn laid waste to a waste swathe of skeletons, opening thigns up for him. He nodded to himself, and took a few steps closer to Vannareth. The mage was getting to his feet, his chest smoking. The blast had been a harsh one, and it seemed as the barest level of defence had saved the man's life.
"Give it up Vannareth. You were never a match for me in an open duel." Gall pointed out to him.
"True. But I brought something that you will not survive." Vannareth spat. A man stepped off the raised bone platform. He looked...young. But Yoristan could feel power pouring off of him. And upon a closer look...

Not hesitating, Yoristan threw himself onto the offence, bolts of fire and lightning arcing towards the newcomer. The man swept his hands about, deflecting the blasts deftly, sending the shots intot he ground around him with little apparent effort, all the while gathering a ball of pure black power in his hand. Yoristan threw a gout of arcane power at teh mage, streaking on target before the mage brought his power sheathed hand into it path, dissipating it. And then he unleashed his power. Pure Dark Magic, an art nearly forgotten, and unheard of in use these days came on. THe heavy barrier that Yoristan threw up scarcely slowed the bands of power. Yoristan ignited his barrier in a flash of near blinding light, halting the Dark power, and letting him throw a heavy blast of counter-magic into them, finally dispersing them.
"Give it up Gall! You can't stop his power!" Vannareth called. And what was more, Yoristan was pretty sure Vannareth was right.

Ewyn was adapting to comabt quickly, starting to use magical force directly in ways that weren't shields. Alduin could do little more than guide her slightly, and offer his encouragement. Ewyn was bringing her own creativity to bear now, and it was proving very helpful. The blast of a disc in the midst of the earthen wall let her attack through. The Vampire cocked his head, siezing an apprectice, adn casting him between the disc and the vampire. The lessr mage took the hit with a scream, and died there from her attack, while the vampire had to leap back as a golem waded into the fray, guided by the spirit with the armour, fire pouring from the joints of the construct. It was hunting the mages in this fight, adn had thrown i's weight to help Ewyn.

Faryn felt as though time was stopping, seeing the Strigoi come on with excruciating slowness, when he heard something whisper in his mind.
"Power is at your hand Faryn. Power that you can grasp. You must Choose." It came to him.
"Choose? Choose what?" He asked aloud, somehow knowing that none but he could hear it.
"Your path. Choose to stay as you are, a mortal, or choose to follow your blood. Follow the path to power." Awareness bloomed in his mind. Of course. The knowledge that his mother had taught him. The way he had always been able to easily deal with the Fae folk. The way their habits had seemed easily understood. And the way his mother had seemed so ageless. There was a word for those like him. Changeling. Half-blood to the Fae folk. And he could embrace that blood, follow it, and become a full blooded Fae.

"What say you mortal?" The voice asked him.
"I ride the blood! I CHoose Fae!" He shouted. In that moment, Faryn felt his heart hammer in his chest, adn his vision sharpened, his body light and supple, like coiled wire. When he moved, it was in a blurrign wave that danced around the coming claw, and slammed the ahmmer intot he skull of the Strigoi. The beast staggered, and looked at Faeryn with confusion in it's eyes. Faryn smiled. The rules had changed now. His hair was flowing, drifting in an unseen wind, his eyes sharpened to an inhuman green, split with an iris more suited to a feline. He flicked a stout club to his hand, and smiled. He and the Strigoi exploded at one another.

She cursed silently to herself when the Oneiromancer deflected her attack towards him specifically by bringing a mage in who took the blow. It was nice to know that it killed but she needed to bring it back again so she could try to at least seriously injure or maim this guy. Just as she was raising her shield again to form the discs with razor sharp edges, a golem appeared in the way and she nearly dropped it all, a little frightened by the creature but then wondering which side it was fighting for. She looked about and saw the same kind of creatures fighting the bad side. That cleared up that doubt in her head immediately and she walked forward and with a slice of her hand, sent the discs in rapid succession, one after the other all directed at the vampire.

Stepping back, Ewyn used the staff to create a little whirlwind inside of her shield that she pushed out as a sort of boost with razor flecks in it, sharp and painful and if it worked, maybe she could make some sort of holey cheese out of him, spongy too. She let it go and then let out a deep but shaky breath. A glance towards Master Gall and she saw the look on his face. It worried her because he was holding his own really well and then a figure stepped off the raised bone platform. She didn’t know what it meant but he seemed…he didn’t seem sure anymore, compared to how he had been when fighting Vannareth. She had to do something but what could she do?

Yoristan saw a Golem bearing down on Vannareth, the elemental animating it realizing that bereft of their leader, the army that was here would likely disperse. Gall blew out a breath, and threw both hands out. Power built within them, and the Dark mage cocked his head, taking stock of the sitation. When the spell went off, a column of blue power shot out. The Dark mage summoned up a black barrier. The imapct sounded like a heavy hammer slamming into an iron door, but it stretched on as Gall threw more and mroe power at the problem. The barrier was beginning to crack, but his reserves were startingto run dry. He could hear a faint screaming, like something falling very fast, fast enough to heat the very air to a searing burn, and he spared a glance up. His heavy blow was coming.

The golem was about to smite Vannareth to the ground when it abruptly blew apart. The undead titan cocked it's head, it's hand smoking from the heavy blast of lightning that it had summoned. Gall cursed. Not just a zombie, this titan corpse still had powers of it's own to command. It was not an encouraging thought. The barrier of the Dark mage shattered, and shot forth, lifting hte man from his feet, adn tossing him aside, a smoking wound on his chest. Vannareth waved a hand, adn black power surged to strike at Gall. He dodged, and frantically fed power into a spell. A spar of ice shot from the ground, impaling Vannareth's arm, starting at the elbow and pushing all the way through to the palm. Panting, Gall took a moment.
"You think something like this will really stop me Gall?" Vannareth called, gritting his teeth, and moving to slide his arm off of the ice. Gall raised his hand, adn snapped his fingers. The icy spar exploded, blasting into fragments, and showering Vannareth with bloody shrapnel. The impaled limb was nothing but bloody gibblets.
"No. But that might." Gall gasped out. Teh Dark mage was on his feet, and summoning power. Gall noted that most of the golems were down. They were in trouble.

The Oneiromancer seemed to blow out a breath, and then he vanished. The Gloem hammered a fist down, smashing a carter. THe discs shot through the space that the vampire had just occupied. The monster reappaeared behind the golem, adn cast a hand out. Dark red energy played along the golem, the whole contruct arcing in the ari, and giving a scream that sounded like a steam boiler breached. Teh golem exploded, flames lighting out from the shattered construct, and the vampire seemed to flicker in and out of sight, avoiding the damage. He turned to look at Ewyn.
"You think to kill me child? You, who has barely touched power, will slay one who has been practicing his craft for three centuries?" The vampire taunted as he came closer.

Faryn landed two blows from the hammer and four from the club before having to duck low. He thought that he'd moved fast when he had to before Now...now it was another thing all together. He was faster than anything he'd seen, faster than he had any right to be in any sense of mortality. But then...he had the distinct inkling that he wasn't mortal anymore. The Strigoi shook itself, and spat a few teeth out. Faryn paced back, getting a little distance, and finding what he wanted. A watchman had tried to face down the ghouls, and had ultimately failed. But he had left behind his weapon, a well forged short sword. He dropped the club, adn lifted the blade, flicking it fromt he ground with his toe. It felt good in his hand, and he spared a glance at the blade. A smile lit his face. THe makers mark. It was one of his fathers blades. Secure in the knowledge of thequality of the blade, he took a few paces forward, before pushing himself again.

Sparks flew in the air, the Strigoi apparently realizing that it would need to escalate it's own efforts if it was going to stand up to this new foe. Faryn was still the faster, adn he tore open half a dozen wounds along it's torso, the hammer smashing into whatever opening he could find. He felt bone break under each blow, and managed to send the beast reeling from a underhanded swing that connected with the lower jaw of the thing. Grinning to himself, he had the thought that he was the better of the two of them. His face fell as he saw the jaw realinging itself. He cursed himself. Of course. Strigoi were easily capable of regenerating themselves. ANd he was fresh out of blessed silver. He had the thought of luring it back to the forge, fire would serve. Teh Strigoi bulled forward, roaring, a thunderous sound that shook the very ground. A backhanded blow hit just below Faryn's ribs, adn threw him through the air. He slammed into a wall, and coughed, spitting blood. Faster he might be, but the strength of this beast was orders of magnitude higher than his. He pushed himself ot his feet, and moved to meet the onrushing monster.

Any thought of turning to Master Gall’s aid was squashed as she watched the full demise of the golem that wanted to help. The look on Ewyn’s face was of absolute shock and despair, her eyes wide and her jaw kissing the floor, Alduin had to remind her, that with grace, she must pick her jaw up and resume some serious fighting, especially seeing as the Oneiromancer wanted to go from here to there and she couldn’t really see.
Easy. And then there he was and he was looking right at her, walking right towards her. Her hands lifted up in defense, her shield strengthening just from his movement towards her and she had the look of someone who was scared, terrified.

His words though triggered something and she dropped her hands suddenly, her shield leaving her and she let out a small huff. “Child?” She scoffed. “If I am such a child, what does that make you then? I slept peacefully for nearly two decades and then you showed up. No, I never thought to kill you. Perhaps…” A flicker of a smile traced onto her face. “Maim or seriously injure. But no, Ewyn would never wish to kill the likes of you.”

With a step forward, she wound her hand back, gathering enough air, strength and power and she let her fist collide into his jaw. She’d never punched anyone before. She kind of liked it. Sure, Ewyn was a mage fledgling but she could throw some devastating blows with only the slightest support of magic. But that fist was all her.

The shrieking missile finally came within reach to become very obvious. The ground was lighting up, and the mages turned their eyes skyward to see the onrushing meteor that Gall had summoned. Vannareth hunkered down, feeding all his pain into the effort of erecting a barrier. The Dark mage waved a hand to dispel the onrushing form, only to gape in the realization that it wasn't a magical construct. Gall had actually summoned the object into full reality, making it not something that could be pushed aside so easily. Yoristan threw a blast a arcane power at the Dark mage, and then did some fast calculations.
"Ewyn! Barrier, and hit the deck!" Gall shouted, throwing his own barrier up, a feeding power into it. This was going to be big.

The Oneiromancer actually felt the magic force behind the blow. The girl might not be well trained yet, but she had such potential. A shame she was so opposed to him. But with a grin, showing the long fangs, he realized that such could be...altered. He raised a hand. From the ground, forms began to crawl free, each one looking up to Ewyn as they climbed to their feet. The moer they stood, he more definition came to them. Each one looked like a perfect Faryn. But...wrong. Each looked as though it had died in a different way, and had the panicked, terrified eyes of one who had died in terrible pain.
"Ewyn..." They all moaned in a terrifying unity, and reached for her.

Steel on claw, sparks in the air, Faryn fought with all he had. There was no pause in the fighting this time, only stunning speed and violence. The hammer and sword Were delivering terrible wounds to the beast, all the while Faryn kept himself in motion, pushing hismelf to the absolute limits of his endurance. He rolled aside from one blow, letting the claws pass within a hairs bredth of his body before bringing the hammer down with all his strength. Teh blow landed on the top of the Strigoi's head. Cracking bone sounded loud and clear, adn Faryn felt a momentary surge of confidence. Maybe there was a weakness that could be exploited after all. There was a tump, and he tried to slide to the left, but felt himself held short. He looked down, eyes going wide to see that the beast had driven its clawed hand into his chest. He blinked, adn spat the building liquid from his mouth. Deep red, too bright to be human, tinged with flecks of silver. He looked at the Strigoi as the beast lifted his transfixed body off of the ground. With a bestial howl, claws shot forward, approaching Faryn's face too quickly to be properly registered. A moment of sheer blinding pain, claws piercing flesh and bone, and then...Faryn felt his limbs go slack.

Heroic. It was all that the innkeeper could think of how Faryn had fought. Like a hero of old, trying to stand off a beast that man had little place fighting. But Faryn had not been enough, and was now lieing dead on the ground. The beast looked tot he inn, and charged. The wall broke, splintering wood, adn emerging into the room of screaming people. Blood filled the air, as a terrible slaughter began.

And that’s what pleased her the most, knowing that blow definitely hit. She stepped back though as he was doing something and her breathing picked up when she saw the forms pull themselves out of the ground. What scared her the most wasn’t the fact that they were just decaying forms but they all looked like Faryn and they were all coming for her specifically. It was perhaps one of the most horrifying scenes that left a sickening and terrifying feeling in her gut. Was that a sign for something? Did something happen to Faryn? Or was this Oneiromancer being a right-foul-bastard in scaring her this way. Or both? Oh, she hoped it wasn’t the third. She begged for it not to be the third.

But the sight before her right now, it left her frozen. She couldn’t move, she was too scared, she couldn’t even out of fear conjure her shield. It was only when she heard Alduin’s insistent and urgent voice, she got some grip and semblance of a right mind and conjured up her shield immediately and pushed with a devastating blow. She didn’t hear Master Gall. Just as she detonated her shattering shield, there was a blow. A big one. She pushed her shield and then a couple of seconds, everything rebounded back.