Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Tezkat]

His crossbow reloaded within seconds, the wolf lined up another target. He obviously wasn't expecting his first bolt to be making a return trip, however. His eyes widened, and he leapt back with amazing speed. The trunk of the tree he'd been using for cover turned to ice in an instant. A layer of frost radiated outward, coating the underbrush in a layer of glassy cold, and stopped just short of the wolf. One of his fellow soldiers, a tabby-striped feline who'd been hiding behind the adjacent tree, was not so lucky.

The wolf spat out a curse, his breath condensing into wispy clouds in the suddenly frigid seaside air. It was going to be one of those fights.

+ + +

Go figure... I prepare all these defences against fire and dark magic, and everyone decides to use ice.

Sorry. None of the primary targets were supposed to have that kind of ability.

They have another shadow user as well. The Demon?

Possibly. Her file was incomplete.

We'll find out soon enough. They're coming over to play.

+ + +

The wolf dodged from the cover of one tree to the next. He kept his crossbow at eye level. The enemy had broken their line and were picking off their forces from behind. Away from the main groups now, he was out of the crossfire. But he was also dangerously alone, with only the shadows to watch his back as he hunted the hunters hunting him. The distinction between predator and prey had become painfully blurred.

[Stygian]

Quite suddenly, there was movement up before the wolf, to his side a bit. The bat was walking along, alone in between the trees in the direction of the next group of mercenaries, apparrently not having noticed the crossbowman. The fiery cascades had let up for a moment, for some reason, and he was taking slow, level strides, walking as if casually strolling down a street, though his dark, narrowed eyes glared fiercely into the darkness. And there seemed to be something wrong with him, or rather with his immediate surroundings. It was very hard to see, but the shadows shifted somewhat oddly as he passed, intensifying and moving in a way they shouldn't have been. Still, the effect was hardly as dramatic or overwhelming as anything that the lapine or the jackal had been doing.
   But that was the point as well. And unlike with Keaton and Somber, Stygian neither radiated emotion nor thoughts, not magic or power of any kind. He simply walked, waiting for the next opportune moment.
   And then he vanished. Passing out of view for a second, he simply dissappeared, his form swallowed up by the darkness of the forest, undramatically and without trace.
   The very next moment, the wolf heard something like the middle thing between a growl and a hiss behind him, and then he was struck. Hard, in the back. Hard enough that he lifted from the ground and went sailing through the air a few metres.
   Slowly, patiently, but with a glare on his face and slightly tensed and ready to spring, Stygian walked out of the dark against the wolf.

   Illat's attacks had let up. The alligator knew that it was an illusion that hit him, but he had not prepared to fend off something so specific, or so strong. It was hardly impossible; he would be done with it in a matter of seconds. But during those seconds, only a part of the shield that he upheld was there to protect, and his attacks were completely halted...

[Boog]

Richard crept along the battlefield, keeping to where there were shadows or objects to avoid being seen. Over there was that clown from the bar again, looking confused. Whatever the woman in the illusion disguise (Mel, right? Gah, me and names...) had done had caught him off guard; a perfect chance to catch him and get some questions answered. Or at least take out some frustration on. He darted a bit closer, circling behind the gator while remaining hidden, before he lunged with a spell of his own crystalizing at his fingertips. If the first powerful blast of arctic-temperature wind he was readying didn't knock lizard boy out from either the cold or sheer force then punching him probably would. Here's hoping he didn't move the remains of that shield too fast...

[Aisha deCabre]

The boomerang returned to Aisha's hand once again, her grip on it tightening as she touched spilled blood on the handle, and thanking the gods for having her be so lucky as to have only a few soldiers shooting at her.  She looked out over the battlefield from her vantage point on the balcony and wondered just how they were all going to get away from it in the long run.  Blood was staining the ground, bodies strewn in the trees, far too many to stop and bury if anyone even wanted to.  All that was left on that side, as far as she could see, were just a few groups of soldiers and one spellcaster.

The panthress grimaced.  Though the battle was somewhat gratifying, it was still quite a cavalry for just a small group of adventurers and some strangers.  And Stygian, she reminded herself.  Meeting back up with him had started the whole thing...

She watched Mel thankfully escape intact, while the others were busy getting themselves stained in crimson from head to toe...especially the demon, to Aisha's unsurprised disgust, and then there was Gareeku.  Watching the wolf cleave endlessly through body after body, the panthress wondered at just when the last time was that anyone had seen him act so utterly merciless.  Her eyes narrowed in thought.  He HAS changed.

Aisha's lapse in observation, however, nearly cost her.  At that moment, her ear swiveled and she ducked just as a thin line of fire whooshed right over her head.  Her eyes widened at the sight.  It seemed that there were more in this battle that they had missed...

Snarling in frustration, the huntress leaped over the balcony and landed hard on a tree branch, rushing in leaps and bounds on the boughs over to the side where she assumed everyone else was, and reaching to her belt for the handle of her sword.  "Watch out!  We've got a problem..." she started, but the one nearest to her position right then wasn't listening...he still seemed adamant on rushing to slice down every last enemy.

Aisha jumped down from the limb she was on, landing in front of him, only to be surprised at his change in demeanor...more than surprised, but worried.  Both of his eyes were taking on a glow as red as the blood he was covered in.

"Gareeku!"  she snarled.  Instead of waiting for him to hear her, she drew her sword and blocked his blade with her own.  "Snap out of it!"

She only hoped that he wouldn't have to be hurt to do so...things were going to get messier, fast.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel could see that the undead baboon was dealing with the gator. She'd have to demand introductions once they were out of here. From her hiding spot she began picking off the soldiers nearby so that the baboon would have time to finish whatever he was going to do. Intense rays of cold, carefully aimed at chests to freeze hearts and lungs. She heard Aisha's shout and felt the first bolt of lightning crackle past at the same moment. More? Was everyone in the city after them? She grabbed the lightning and hurled it back. Soldiers usually had lots of metal on them to attract electricity.

[Tezkat]

The wolf suddenly found himself airborne, careening straight over the fallen log in front of him. He flipped and twisted in midair so as to land facing his attacker. A pair of dark tracks formed in the dirt and leaves as he skidded backwards. He rose slowly, cracked his neck from side to side, and shook off the impact.

"That hurt."

But his mouth had twisted into a dark grin. The infamous Stygian stood before him. Whoever took that one down would be a rich man indeed... if he survived. He locked eyes with his quarry.

The wolf blurred into motion. Whipping his crossbow up, he fired squarely into the bat's chest. Surely his opponent couldn't dodge a bolt at this range... could he?

[Stygian]

The frigid blast fired by the baboon hit the fiery shield with good force, though not enough to punch through it fully. Still, the force of it was enough to freeze Illat's clothes stiff and knock him over, even as he was regaining his senses. For a moment the shield wavered, as more blasts of ice and lightning careened into it, shredding it and sending sparks and steam out. And then it went away.
   Slowly, Illat got to his feet, his face a thunderhead and his eyes glowing. Turning, he glared at Richard, his face twisted into a snarl and his tail whipping.
   "Don't disturb me when I'm working, asshole!" he roared, while two sharp horns began taking shape out of his forehead. He raised his hand, fire wreathing around it and starting to concentrate in his palm.

- -

Apparrently, he could. Dodge that bolt, that was. For while a crossbow bolt was faster than an arrow, Stygian was what he was no matter how he looked, and seemed to have no trouble snatching it from the air, right in front of him. He didn't even look at it, just snapped it in half and dashed against the wolf.
   "This will too!"
   From the bat's movements right then alone, one would probably have come to some conclusions about his racial belonging. He struck blurringly fast, not even bothering to feint to the sides as he knew the wolf had no time, going straight for him. An apparrent strike against the chest turned into an elbow as he switched to the side, instead aiming to knock the crossbow out of the lupine's hands, and then he spun rapidly, bringing his leg up until his foot was easily level with his head and whipped it around, aiming for the wolf's neck. All of the moves were executed with the same fluid, efficient style. Obviously, he was as agile as he was strong.

[Boog]

"Disturb you?" Richard replied incredulously as he readied a spell of his own, thick frigid fog oozing off of him, "Disturb you?" He swung one punch to the gator's jaw, "I'm enjoying a night off that you interrupt by blowing the bar up and you're accusing me of disturbing you?" The baboon stepped forward to get in another shot, this time to the mage's stomach, "Then again, I did get in the way while you were working. I'm so sorry I interrupted you getting your ass handed to you by a woman around half your damn size. That make it better, jackass?"

[Gareeku]

Onwards the wolf battled, slaying soldier after soldier, his once-gleaming blade now red with blood as it sliced through limb after limb, body after body. his once white fur was now as red as the blood that seeped from the lifeless corpses around his feet. His eyes burned a fierce red as Gareeku tore through his enemies.

"Gareeku!"

Less than a second after he had heard the voice, he felt his sword collide against something hard, stopping the blade from continuing its path. Standing there was Aisha, struggling to hold off his attack. "Snap out of it!"

As he heard the voice, the wolf quickly came to his senses. Instantly his eyes reverted back to their normal state, though he still possessed the demonic eye. Blinking slightly as he looked at Aisha, the wolf then suddenly whirled round, cleaving through a soldier who had decided to try and sneak up on him while Aisha was holding him off.

"Thank you." Gareeku said calmly, his back turned to the pantheress as he looked around at the corpses around him. Saying nothing more, the wolf strode off to continue the battle.

[Tezkat]

The wolf was reloading his crossbow as soon as he had fired the first bolt, but his opponent had already closed into melee. The crossbow flew off into the darkness. Wooden bolts clattered to the ground, and he stood empty handed against his assailant.

The lupine warrior blinked in disbelief. To the bat, his movements must have appeared sluggish. He barely registered any reaction as the kick hurtled towards his neck.

In an instant, everything changed. The wolf blurred into motion. Rather than evading the blow, he stepped into it. Bracing himself for the impact, he whipped up his arms to catch the leg and lock it against his body.

"My thoughts exactly." The wolf's voice seemed to float on the air.

Suddenly, arcane glyphs flared to life around them, snaking across the ground... the trees... the logs. For a moment, the two warriors stood silhouetted against the eerie eldritch glow. Then their world disappeared in a blaze of light as a massive thunderclap rocked the woods.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha watched calmly as Gareeku came back to himself, lowering her sword as he did and backing up a little bit as he swerved to slice the soldier coming up behind him.  The panthress hadn't much time to even reply to his thanks as he went off to continue the fight; she just watched, relieved at least that he had come to so quickly.

Another bolt landed suddenly at her feet, barely missing her by inches.  Aisha snarled and tossed her boomerang up instantly in the direction it came from, soon hearing a scream and seeing a figure tumble lifelessly from the boulder he was standing on.  She had been harshly reminded all day that it wasn't a time to let one's guard down.  The light-magic sawblade returned to her grip and back to her weapon belt, her gaze moving briefly to the dead individual nearby.  Gods, we may soon be paying for this.

Then, with her magic-proof dragonblade held up before her, she started running towards the hopefully last group bearing down upon everyone, spellcasters seemingly at the forefront.  The blade sliced straight through a whizzing ball of fire aimed towards them, dispelling the thing in midair.

Passing Gareeku on the way, it was only then that she said loudly enough for him to hear, "you're welcome."  Then her blood-tinged gaze narrowed dangerously at the hunters, already considered dead within it.  Her cape even changed back to her usual red, signaling its intent as it was mirrored in her gleaming blade.

No more hiding.

[Stygian]

That was... unexpected, Stygian thought. The wolf smelled, and was warm, and felt... But it was wrong. Thoughts rushed through his head so fast that he nearly didn't notice when his foot was caught. And standing off-balance as he did, it mattered not how strong he was. He couldn't get out of the wolf's grip.
   Magical glyphs flared, and Stygian looked confused. What the Hell...? That isn't ri...
   A great strike of thunder cleft the night, and Stygian was hurled back, his form smoking and burned. He hit a tree hard with his back and groaned, slumping down it for a moment. Where the wolf had been, there was nothing anymore.
   Growling and cursing in a variety of languages, the bat got to his feet. Now, there was a bit of a change. Someone setting traps for him, and not the other way around. He brushed himself off, closing his eyes for a second and standing deceptively still, while his mind raced with the shadows, searching... and finding. He opened his eyes again, narrowing them as a smirk appeared on his face. Two could play that game...
   The bat took half a step before he seemed to dissappear, in some eye-defying way, not blurring but just shifting out of sight. The next second, Edge heard a snap as a branch was slashed into behind him, and turning, he could see the bat leaping high through the air, headed straight for him with claws stretched out and his fangs glinting.

- -

Richard's punches took allright. But they didn't seem to do so much more. The alligator was hard as rock, and the baboon seemed to have missed his suddenly sprouting horns entirely. There was a moment's stillness as Illat backed, and then looked up, grinning.
   Richard didn't feel the arm hitting him hard in the chest, cracking a few ribs and sending him sprawling. But it was probably safe to say that he would be noticing it.
   "My ass handed to me? You've got this wrong, pal. You're the ones who're 's good as dead...!" the gator growled, and began gathering up flames again...

[Sunblink]

After companioning herself with Somber, Keaton ventured further out into the battlefield, keeping herself under the cover of darkness so to not draw attention to herself and to evade any flying bolts of magic that were zigzagging across the forest. Trees were struck with blocks of ice, people of all species fell--yet Keaton couldn't see any sign of her allies among those who had collapsed, thankfully--it was nothing short of complete chaos. Keeping her distance, Keaton slunk from shadow to shadow, making sure that nobody fell in front of her. At one point a body crumpled before her, but it did nothing more than just startle her. After the initial shock she merely stepped over the unconscious (or dead?) wolverine sprawled on the ground and advanced on the figures she saw up ahead.

Further deciphering and squinting of the eyes revealed that it was none other than Richard, the Undead baboon from before, and the hulking alligator who had decimated the bar. And better yet, as far as she could tell, he didn't seem to have any of his fire-spawning explosives with him, although something was steadily distorting his silhouette--two sharp figures were rising from his scalp, but she assumed it was a trick of the light or her eyes decieving her.

He seemed to be preoccupied with Richard, but he was about to get a very unpleasant surprise. Without any moments of hesitation, Keaton broke out into a run, her legs becoming a black-clad blur beneath her. For someone whose feet were so heavily-adorned with bulky boots, she moved swiftly and with surprising quietness, perhaps the result of years of training with cumbersome clothing selections. As she neared the alligator, however, her presence began to become more apparent, but perhaps a moment too late. Pulling back, she readied her mace, feeling energy spark from it, and swung it around toward Illat, aiming deliberately for his head.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Somber]

(sorry for the delay.  been working my tail off.  Have you seen it?)

Somber had kept alongside Keaton, watching her flank and letting her telepathy pick out targets.  The lapine's ears continually turned like radar dishes, trying to pick out the most immediate sounds.  When they finally reached Illiat she froze and grabbed her shoulder.  "Oh... this is interesting."  The rabbit looked at Keaton with her maroon eyes and gave an almost apologetic smile.  "Styg never mentioned he was a demon... unless you can think of another horned creature with a fondness for destruction is supernatural toughness?"  He could have been some saurian specific mythos, but she doubted it.

Somber actually took a second to stretch, as if she was getting ready for a sprint or athetic competition.  "I'm going to need you to watch my back, Keaton.  I'm not going to be able to focus on anything else but him."  She hissed softly as she narrowed her eyes.  "That flame shield is going to make this hard.  Can you send a spell or message to richard and mel and ask them to focus on putting it out?  I can't go hand to hand with it burning my claws off."

[Boog]

"Oh, funny!" The baboon groaned, hitting the ground. He'd noticed the horns, he just didn't care. Then again, it seemed that another approach would be needed. He'd had a similar idea to Somber's although a tad more all encompassing. With a resounding, dirge-like yell he unleashed the spell he'd prepared. Thick fog billowed outward, smothering flames and sound alike as the undead dragged himself back upright. "'You're the dead ones,' I've never heard that one before. What's with you people and cliches?" He'd already moved to the side, and called out from where he was to distract the gator from Keaton, "I mean, come the hell on! Do these lines get handed down in family lines of you idiots?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel slunk from one spot of cover to the next, her attention on the new mages joining the fray. She was turning their spells and sending them back into their own advancing lines, with ice daggers thrown in as a bonus. Magic-filled thunder rolled in a shockwave across the battlefield. She looked back in it's direction, someone was playing rough. Then she went back to her own targets, one fight at a time.

[Tezkat]

Crouched high up in the trees, Edge's ears perked up at the branch cracking behind him. He spun, drawing his sword so quickly that the weapon almost leaped into his hand. Its inky black blade sizzled with menacing purple energy. He licked his lips.

His form flickered. For a second, multiple blond panthers appeared superimposed across each other in flagrant disregard for the rules of space and time. And then they scattered. Three identical copies of the feline bounty hunter sprang from the bough, bolting off in different directions with lighting speed.

The recently vacated perch came alive with mystical runes. Runes of Earth. Runes of Power. Runes of Life. Branches writhed and grew to sharp points, protruding like great wooden talons. They spread out, preparing to welcome the chiropteran into their deadly embrace.

"How nice..."

"...of you..."

"...to drop in."

The cool, refined voice rang out in three-way stereo. The trio kicked off of nearby trees and reversed course in unison. With their dark, shimmering blades poised to strike, they flew over to meet Stygian at the center of a four-way deathtrap.

[Stygian]

Illat growled and very nearly barked a laugh at the baboon, smirking sarcastically.
   "Like you've got 'nething better to go with. You're jus' too stiff, man!" the gator quipped, ignoring as his shield was downed and drawing together streams of fire. "Humor is a boon, ya know!" He laughed, drawing his hand back.
   Then, just as suddenly, his expression grew shocked, and he turned.
   "What the He...?!" he exclaimed, right in time with Keaton's mace hitting him in the face. He lifted a bit, and spun through the air, before hitting the ground with a groan. Snarling, he started scrambling to his feet, a fireball already gathering in his hand and flames snaking around him as if alive. He roared out, and leapt for Keaton, his hand sweeping out and aiming for her head.

- -

In mid-air, the bat could certainly not change course easily. Yet, instead of scrambling to try and avoid the spikes, he instead just hit them, the points skewering him with ease. Too much ease.
   There was a laugh. And then the bat's form turned completely black, before it practically exploded outward in a rush of spikes and lashes. It lasted only a second, but tore the branches off the tree and cleared its top, dropping it to the ground.
   "Not too bad. But you're a damn fool to put yourself in the centre of the action like that before moving..." the bat's voice murred, untraceable in the dark. It echoed eerily.
   Calmly, Stygian walked as his outline formed from a patch of darkness and he stepped out into the moonlight, glancing up at the shredded tree.
   "Are we going to keep playing games, or do you think you could actually come out and face me?" he spoke out, to no one in particular.

[Boog]

"Hey, eyes on me ugly!" the baboon simply lunged forward to grab Illat's tail while he was in mid-leap, throwing him to the ground, "I know you were locked up for a long time, but wait a while. You can get your ass kicked by chicks again soon enough." He quickly backed off, creating more fog to stifle the flames and conceal himself.

[Somber]

She knew there was a reason she liked richard, and grinned as she dropped to all fours like a sprinter.  Her claws siezed the turf as she waited for exactly the right moment.  It came as richard halted his leap and Keaton's mace met his muzzle.

Somber ran at him.  Or more appropriately, she nearly streaked the distance seperating them in the blink of an eye.  The demonic rabbit with supernatural speed in her limbs and diamond hard claws gripping for purchase, moved with phenominal force.  As Illat reached the ground she slashed his side just under his ribs.  She didn't dash away, however.  Why should she?  She excelled at close combat, and like an auger began to tear into his tough hide with dozens of blows to the same spot.  Eventually he would have to either shift his defense and expose eyes, groin, and other tender targets, or she'd carve out his liver.

[Stygian]

The alligator roared out in pain and twisted rapidly, not matching Somber's speed but still a great deal faster than any normal being could ever have, and used his advantage of size and strength to push against her, slapping his tail around to knock her away. He bled from the side, and hunched over as he struck out, forcing Somber away as well as he could, while fire continued to flow around him through sheer rage. In a desperate counterattack, he let loose a fireball much too close for comfort, and for a moment he and the ground around them erupted into flames.
   The world kept shaking and ringing for a while, before a blurry gator crawling to his feet and clenching his side came into view, his clothes shredded and gashes visible in his skin. And against all sense, another fireball forming in his hand.
   "You... fucking bitches..." he coughed, glowing eyes locked on Keaton. With a rasping growl, he raised his hand and aimed. "I'll turn you all to dust!"

[Boog]

Richard swore under his breath as Illat's latest spell singed his legs and knocked him off of his feet. The fog wasn't working half as well as one would expect. The reptile still had access to a wide range of fire spells that were too powerful for him to stifle. Alright, another new plan would have to be formulated in the time it took to stand up.
Richard's flash-freezing spell wasn't half so effective when it wasn't bound to an object. Without something to carry it one could only send it as far as their hand could reach, and it didn't spread nearly so far without some velocity behind it. However, it was enough.
"Ashes to ashes," the undead snarled as he surged forward, hands now glowing blue and reaching for the arm readying another fireball.

[Sunblink]

Much to Keaton's delight, her attack connected brusquely with Illat's face with a hideous crunching noise, the alligator going flying before he landed in a heap on the ground. Cheering silently, Keaton started to advance on her before Somber leapt atop him, ripping and tearing with serrated claws into his side. Acting with surprising agility for such a lumbering creature, Illat whirled around, knocking Somber to the side, his body flickering with flames. One poorly-aimed fireball ignited the area around them, engulfing the terrain in fire. Still staggering from the bombardment of Somber's claws, the alligator shakily raised his arm, starting to aim a fireball at Keaton.

"Oh--shit--!" Keaton exclaimed.

Unlike some fighters, she didn't find her body freeze up against her will after realizing that Illat's attentions had shifted to her. Instead, she sprinted toward the hulking gator, weapon readied for a powerful swing towards his head. The Catastrophe could carry a great deal of strength behind its blows, especially when Keaton was angry--hell, she had even decapitated someone quite effectively with it in the past shortly before incinerating their body with a bolt of dark lightning.

It was quite obvious that was what she intended to do to Illat, hopefully prior to when he launched a fireball in her direction.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Somber]

Fire!  It had to be near the top of her ten most hated things!  Despite Mel and Richard's attempts, clawing him was like tearing into a red hot stove... it hurt like hell!  The rabbit's hands trailed smoke as her fur singed, and only the swift movement kept her from igniting all together.  His tail was also making things difficult!  It might have been as flexible as a tree, but he only needed to hit her onc-

And there she went like a smoking line drive.  She barely had a second to grab whatever shadow-stuff she could and pile it between her an a particularly sturdy oak.  She didn't have time to turn the shadows into more that spongy... stuff... and so she hit the tree with all the grace of a drunk albatross.  The shadows evaporated back to normal as she landed in a heap, trying to shake off the spinning.

Woah!  Hand of fire!  And the nearest targets happened to be the two people she currently gave a damn about!  Crap!  She didn't have time to be graceful.  A tough as cubi and undead were, she doubted that they could take a direct hit.  Heck, she wasn't sure she could!  She crouched and then launched herself into the hair in a flying jump kick, screaming something at him in demon about his mother's testicles as she prayed she made for the best target.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stood in the protective shade of one of the trees iced over by her earlier attack and watched the new attackers advance, concentrating particularly on the ones slinging magic. They didn't appear to be as powerful as the gator, at least at first glance. She'd throw a little confusion into the ranks and see how they coped with magic that wasn't directly offensive. She pulled up a spell to affect the mind, induce paranoia, distrust, and make allies seem enemies. Then she aimed it, not at the magic users, but at the sharpshooter who appeared to be covering them while they worked. With a little chuckle she moved on to the next bit of cover, in his line of work he was probably already paranoid enough that the spell would push him over the edge immediately.

[Stygian]

Illat's response was a nearly wordless roar, his eyes flaring up and his free hand striking out. There wasn't one of those moments when everything froze. Rather, everything around seemed to go much too fast. Both Somber and Keaton hit him head-on, the result of which was an off-balance impact that turned into a tumbling pile of bruises, sprainings and broken bones. The alligator did not get his last spell away, but struggled half-consciously to somehow crawl into a somewhat upright position, with Keaton and Somber on top of him. In his hand some flames still burned, but his shivering moves and his rasping breaths told all that one needed to know of his state. Still, in his beat-up state he was still strong and conscious enough to throw his attackers off him.
   "Fucking... bloody... tricked me..." he sputtered, blood running out of the corners of his mouth. Roughly, jerkily, he reached inside his coat, getting up on his knees. His eyes didn't wander around; he could easily tell what was happening. Mel's spells and Aisha's and Gareeku's attacks were causing havoc among the mercenaries. Somewhere off, thunder crackled. And those two hunters who had been supposed to help out were off, probably playing around, damn them. And these prey turned hunters didn't seem likely to let a merc go, even if he would probably just run. And then, he was a demon.
   "You're not getting me... cheap...!" he growled, opening his flaming palm. And slowly, he pulled out a clear glass flask from under his coat. His grin was that of a man smiling in the face of the Devil.

[Tezkat]

Three Edges hurtled towards their quarry with swords raised, prepared to deal killing blows as the bat impacted the branch. But there was nothing to strike but a great pool of exploding darkness.

Two of the triplets twisted in midair and pushed off of each other, launching themselves away from the unexpected assault. The last seemed to hang in the air above the branch. The bolts of darkness passed right through him. Moments later, he faded into nothingness.

The second plunged to the ground. As he fell, a field of rich indigo energy enveloped him. And then he was gone. No trace of him remained.

The remaining Edge cleared the blast and sailed off into the night. Coming to rest on a tree some ways away, he looked down at his shredded suit in dismay. The clothing melted and reformed a second later, once again whole and spotless. He scowled, and then he, too, vanished into the darkness.

+ + +

That was close. The guy's as crazy as you are.

Thanks. I wonder why the wards I put up against dark--

Hold on! Where do you think you're going?

Down there, of course. You heard him calling us out.

Somebody needs to add Protection from Ego +10 to his buff routine.

Quiet, you.

+ + +

One by one, three dark felines leapt down from the moonlit treetops. They landed around Stygian, surrounding him on all sides at a comfortable distance.

"Face you?" The one in front of Stygian shrugged, leaning casually against the debris of the fallen tree. "You're the one who just ran off..."

"Don't you like games?" The second stood with his sword resting across his shoulder in a relaxed posture. The blade no longer glowed, but neither did it reflect any moonlight. "We can play a different one, if you prefer."

"Perhaps a friendly game of chess?" The third licked his lips. "Winner gets to keep your head."

[Stygian]

So. Three. That's how many he could do without stretching it. And they were more like an amalgamation, not pure shadow. A great deal of magic. But a dual influx, and only one source? Probably a decoy. And clothes that melted and re-formed, not to mention that sword... and while his response told nothing of his intelligence, it did reveal that he was somewhat vain...
   In his usual habit, once Stygian had his foe in a somewhat manageable situation, he studied him harder than ever. And this man, whoever he was, made for an interesting subject. But then again, the bat himself was not a slow study. Intuitive aptitude and skill; that was the strength he had always relied on, long before power. And once his mind had started racing, it was only a matter of time before he had his enemy down.
   In this cubi's, whose main forte seemed to be shadow magic, whose manner was dramatic and smug, whose pose indicated a favorism of the right hand and a fencing type of swordsmanship rather than a striking one, whose pauses in speech and tone and body language indicated that he was studying the bat too, or at least curious and trying to listen to or observe something, case... In his case it came down to figuring out just who was who of the three. Once he knew the trick...
   "You're not asking me to play. Not your type," Stygian said leniently, drawing it out a bit more and looking at the first Edge, a fake. "Your sort likes to see tricks. Not games. My sort..." He stopped, leaning his head to the side a bit and scratching his neck with sharp claws, his blacked-out eyes half closed.
   Appearance-wise, they were almost alike, but still like opposites. The bat was bigger, but not so that it showed much under his clothing. Both had blond hair to their shoulders, both an athletic build, though 'Edge' had shorter limbs in proportion, and both had the same sort of handsome features, though the bat's sharper nose and lines made a good difference there. Per contrast though, Stygian was nearly whitishly blond in fur, while 'Edge' was completely melanistic, and when comparing voices...
   "My sort likes to play games, that's true. But right now I'd much rather make a deal," he murred, a gentle smirk spreading across his face.
   Slowly, the bat looked up, and this time at the real 'Edge'. Was it coincidence?
   "How about this... You stand down and surrender, and I'll let you live in exchange for telling us who set you all up to this. How does that sound, kitty?"

[Gareeku]

Finally the cries and sounds of battle had for the most part ceased. Watching another body fall lifeless to the ground, Gareeku surveyed the scene. A sea of corpses surrounded him. His clothes and fur were virtually completely crimson with blood, dripping from his sword and parts of his body. Turning his head, he found there to be only one left; Illat. Keaton and the others seemed to have the situation under control though. Despite this, however, the wolf turned and began to make his way to where he was.

[Boog]

Flask. Flask. Why a flask? What's with the flask? "Anyone ever tell you not to drink on the job, Illat?" Richard backed away from the alligator slowly, positioning himself not too far from Keaton and Somber, "Something I've never got about all this adventurer crap; why do the bad guys always get the best toys?" He muttered.