Completed The Noblest of Deeds

[Alistair Krixus]

Thankfully, Alistair's moral hesitations were completely squashed by the urgency of the situation and his Dreadlord sensibilities. He could blush about the situation later when they were not dead. Kristen landed easily enough, Alistair's rune-enforced arms catching her without much of a problem.

The next issue was that Alistair could not just put her down, as there was still glass all over the floor. Instead, he needed to get her out of here as quickly as possible.

"Hold on."

Not waiting for a response, Alistair hurried out of what remained of the front entrance to the manor, having to dodge the fall front entrance as another boulder destroyed a large portion just above the front door way. Alistair continued his sprint before finally diving into the grass just outside of where the gates once stood. At least, he thought those were the gates, it was hard to tell because they had been warped to such a degree.

Alistair gulped in a deep breath before looking to Kristen next to him.

"Are you ok? Sorry, about the bumpy ride. I don't think I will be starting a delivery service anytime soon."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"I am well!" Kristen said, shuffling out of Alistair's grasp and settling her feet into the grass of the spacious Banick courtyard. Similar to Alistair's own thinking, blushing could come later in the calm of victory. Girlish fretting had no place amongst her conscious thoughts.

Others were also hurrying out of the collapsping Estate: servants, soldiers, knights. No sign yet of Walter or Saydor or the other Dreadlords.

More boulders were sailing in. Kristen started to the run, passing through the damaged gates, her feet touching cold cobblestone road now. Not so keen was she on finding out if any of those incoming boulders would fall short of the Estate and strike the courtyard.

As they ran, Kristen shouted over the general commotion, "A guardhouse! Or a store! Someplace that I may requisition at least some proper clothes and a weapon!"

An infiltrator's eyes, from an unseen vantage, witnessed Kristen and Alistair's escape from the Estate.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair followed after Kristen, but could not help but notice that the shots were landing with too much accuracy. The idea had briefly crossed his mind inside the estate, but now he had time to notice that all the damaged structures had military importance. There was no wasted ammunition that waywardly struck random homes or stores...Vogel had some specialized in artillery, likely magical, likely a Dreadlord.

"Up there to the left."

It was one of the nearest guardhouses to the estate, surely there would be clothes, armor, and weapons inside. They needed to hurry and get to the wall to assist with the fight, but as they were nearing the guardhouse, a boulder slammed into its outside. The guardhouse did not completely fall as it was well built, but that specific wall was no longer there.

"If we go in there, then we need to be quick."

Alistair's eyes flashed with runic powers has he once again begun looking through his runic eyes. Hopefully, Walter and his Dreadlords were already at the wall fighting.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

A giddy, worried laugh escaped Kristen as she watched that boulder strike the very guardhouse which—unfortunately—she had little choice but to enter.

"Swift as our feet can carry us," Kristen said. She swallowed, feeling like a knot was working its way down her throat as the sounds of boulder impacts rumbled throughout the city, striking other such guardhouses as this one presumably.

It killed her to say it aloud, but, again, she could be flustered about things later: "The largest sizes of garments and mail you can find." Better for it to be perhaps a touch oversized than grossly undersized, squeezing and constricting delicate areas, or not even fitting her at all.

Kristen bit her lip. Then, knowing that further hesitation would serve no good purpose, counted down, "Three, two, one!" and ran inside.

Hurry. Hurry. Her plan: just grab whatever she could and by Aionus run out! It could be sorted through once outside and not in imminent danger of having a gigantic rock crush her like that poor messenger in the Estate. Her feet made wet slapping sounds on the guardhouse floor (as of yet unbeknownst to Kristen, she'd stepped through a pool of blood from a slain Banick soldier) in her haste. Past the common room. Down a hall. This door? No. A barracks. This door? No. A storeroom. This door?

"The armory!"

Kristen rushed inside. Plenty of equipment was already gone, but a few scattered pieces of gear—arming garments, boots, mail shirts, helms, various weapons—were strewn about. Kristen started with the arming garments, grabbing what trousers and what doublets looked like they might remotely fit her.

* * * * *​

Saydor Vinn was on the ramparts, holding off a siege tower by himself as a host of Vogel's soldiers poured out of it.

Of Walter, not yet any sign.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair followed in right behind Kristen, only briefly noticing that whoever had been inside this building was no longer living. It had been nearly a perfect hit. Thankfully, Kristen found the armory quickly. Alistair knew what he needed to find, he quickly scooped up a sword and a mace for himself and Kristen. Then, he grabbed just about any piece of large armor he could get his hands on.

A quick flash of his eyes told him what he needed to know.

"I've found Saydorr, but no Walter. We need to go!"

Whatever they had managed to grab would have to be enough. Alistair did not feel comfortable staying in here any longer. If another boulder came through, then they were as good as done.

"You can change outside, but not here."

Alistair was already moving through the door. His eyes flashed one more time, but this time he simply frowned and said nothing. What had Alistair seen?

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Outside!?

Alright, yes, okay, she knew what he meant, obviously, of course, certainly there was no time to change in the confines of the guardhouse, sure, but, naturally, for the sake of the decency, it wasn't outside outside where she was going to change but just outside of here, this place, the crumbling guardhouse targeted by Vogel's artillery, but there were other places nearby, places with privacy, which weren't outside outside...

Before Kristen knew it, she actually was outside, having run all the way back through the guardhouse while her mind was clouded with thoughts of modesty. Her legs and her feet had worked all of their own accord. Despite all of her resolution to be engaged in the urgency of the immediate moment, this was the one thing which did fluster her so severely that it could not be ignored. This was the line she would not cross for practicality's sake.

Outside on the street, another direct hit on the guardhouse blew open a hole in the roof and launched a geyser of detritus into the air.

"Th-There!" Kristen said, pointing with a laden arm toward a pottery-maker's shop slightly down the street which was not only untouched but whose door was wide open. "I-I can get dressed in there!"

Kristen started hurriedly toward the shop—aware of the good news of Saydor, unaware of what Alistair had seen with his most recent invocation of his runic eyes.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair only absentmindedly followed along with Kristen's movements this time around as his faraway looks were becoming far more apparent.

As Kristen moved into the shop, Alistair at first stayed outside, wanting to provide some form of modesty. Instead, he focused on his vision.

Looking through runic eyes sounded cool, but it was difficult, especially while moving. Measuring distance was weird and switching from eye to eye at such a fast pace often meant that Alistair was more looking at brief images rather than actually looking through an eye. In that sense, it was kind of like looking back at pictures and trying to figure out what had changed. It sounded like a kids' game, but it ironically was how he had been trained his entire life and it paid off.

He had first noticed it back in the guard tower, a small speck on a rooftop that wasn't looking out towards the walls, but down onto the street. It had taken another moment to realize it was looking relatively in the direction they were in. In fact, someone was watching them. He might be being paranoid, but he was confident his eyes had not failed him. The trick was not only making sure the watcher was not aware but making them slip up.

Alistair withdrew from his runic sight to also realize the shop that Kristen was in also had its windows covered up. It was impossible to see them inside. Sorry, Kristen. Alistair stepped into the shop and closer the door. He activated his runic eyes to once again try and spot their hidden observer, but also to partially give Kristen some privacy since he could not see out of his normal eyes when he was focusing on the runes.

"Sorry Kristen just, umm, don't mind me"

The hidden agent was on the same road as them, he thought, but it was hard to tell just how close. Could they reach them? Hopefully, they would try to come closer in order not to lose the two.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen flew through the open door to the pottery shop, took a quick survey of the main room (the singular room, as it turned out, no separate backroom), and dumped her armload of gear down behind the counter. It was the best offering on such short notice and under such a need for haste.

After securing what Alistair had likewise grabbed from the armory, she dumped all of that gear as well and dropped down, disappearing behind the counter. "Allow for me but a few minutes! And I will strive to be faster than that even!"

Plenty of rustling came from behind the counter as Kristen sized various trousers and doublets and quickly wriggled in and out of them, getting a feel for their suitability.

When Alistair spoke, only her head peeked up from behind the counter, her loose hair (no time had there been to put it into her usual ponytail) slightly messy from whipping on shirts and doublets. "Don't mind...oh! Right!" And she dipped back down.

Kristen had on a good pair of boots, fitting arming pants and doublet, a decent belt, and had just grabbed a mail shirt to throw over top of it when—

A window shattered, glass raining down and a thick puncture in the curtain where a spear of pre-dawn light shined through. This light illuminated a crossbow bolt stuck into the floorboards of the shop.

Something was attached to its shaft. A stinking alchemical mixture. Primed by magic to explode.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The rune eyes had confirmed the man was closed, but the closest eye was blocked off at a wrong angle to keep Alistair from getting a good look at their pursuer. Reverting back to his normal vision, Alistair did his best to get a look out the window without giving it away that he was on to them.

Apparently, he did not do the best job, because he only moved his head in the knick of time for an arrow to come crashing through the door and onto the floor. At least their attacker was not a good shot. Oh, never mind, Alistair picked up on the scent and then spotted the alchemical mixture. It was a bomb.

Runes activated almost instantly as Alistair threw himself at enhanced speeds over the counter right onto Kristen as he pushed her down and yelled "Head down!"

Another rune flared across Alistair's back that made his skin stiff and tough, just before the explosion boomed out from the other side of the counter gathering the shop's interior in green flame and nauseous fumes.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Alistair crashed down atop her, and Kristen was pushed flat to the floor. She didn't question it, and this time no girlish fretting arose—the shattering of the window and the haste of Alistair's actions vanquished any chance of them.

She felt the terrible shock in the ground, the vibrations of the explosion striking the core of each and every bone in her body. The horrid cacophony of dozens and dozens of pots bursting all at once, their shards raining in clinking and tinkling clamor to the floor, assaulted her ears. A bright green light burned against her closed eyelids as flames the same hue crawled along the walls and ceiling. Then the stinging, acrid smell began to crawl into her nostrils.

"Alistair!? Alistair!" Kristen tried to turn her head around, desperately seeking a look up at him. "Are you well? Are you hurt? Alistair!"

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The force of the blast would have splattered Alistair against the wall if not for that counter. Hmm, he would give his compliments to the craftsmen. He felt a sharp burn on his back where he thought that a piece of shrapnel had got him. Nope, his shirt was on fire. The initiate ripped the shirt off before the green flames could do any real damage.

The sheer amount of shrapnel had gotten through his magical reinforced skin, as there were several cuts across his body, but nothing to kill him. Alistair held a finger to his lips to indicate for her to be quiet. That assassin would come to confirm his kill, and Alistair would be there waiting for him.

He motioned for her to get ready behind the counter, but do not move, while he moved over to hide behind what remained of a cabinet that had been blasted to near pieces. Alistair silently took out his runesaber and prepared to activate the blade. Then he waited.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen hushed as soon as she caught sight of Alistair's shushing finger to his lips. She pulled herself up into a low crouch behind the ragged counter, reaching without looking for the sword from the armory and holding it close once her fingers touched it, one hand clutched around the hilt.

Alistair moved off to another position.

The crackle of green flames (remembering Godendrung, Kristen thought green flames were quickly becoming an indisputable herald of peril) continued steadily. Dull thumps outside from distant artillery impacts rattled the loose shards of glass and pottery on the floor. The fumes from the dirty alchemical reaction burned Kristen's nose, her throat, and she stifled a heavy cough trying to scratch its way out of her.

The door to the pottery shop was kicked open, and it nearly fell off of its hinges. A man in dark clothing and a large, bulbous mask stormed in, light crossbow up and at the ready, daggers at his hips. He was scanning the shop quickly, eyes darting with intent behind the lenses of his mask.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair did not give the assailant time to get a read of the entire move, as surprise might be one of the few advantages they had on him at the moment. Runes across his body flared up as he moved within the man's blind spot. He used his normal dueling dagger for the moment, he had questions for the man.

The first strike aimed low, at the achilles. First, remove his ability to stand, then his ability to wield weapons, then they would talk,

Hopefully, this would be all the signal that Kristne would need to also jump into the fight. Her chains would be perfect for the situation.

However, there were some unknown factors that Alistair had a feeling they would learn about fairly soon. Was this man a Dreadlord, or just a well-trained assassin? Either one would be deadly, but the Dreadlord would be a different level of deadly.

"Who are you?"

He only asked the question, as Alistair was already mid-way through his strike. He wanted some element of surprise, but he also wanted the man's attention for Kristen to act. He had to balance the two carefully.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen heard the rushing footsteps and emerged from behind the counter. But the man was not focused on her. The twang of the light crossbow sounded and the bolt flew over Alistair's head as he went low (and later, the shock of what could have been a horrid fate for Alistair would strike Kristen dearly). The man discarded the crossbow and reached for his daggers and cried out as Alistair's slash found home on his heel.

Twin Chains erupted from the floor of the shop after Kristen recited her verse, and they violently snaked around the man's shoulders and armpits and dragged him like the grasping hands of the damned down to the floorboards—his ruined tendons provided no foundation to resist. Meekly, his hands pawed at the sheathed daggers on his hips, but he was so afflicted by the withering effect of Kristen's magic and dazed from his fall that he could secure no firm grasp.

Kristen came from around the counter, weaved around pockets of green fire, and approached. The lenses of the man's mask were fogged on the inside from his heavy breathing.

Who are you?

At first he did not answer. Only grunted and sighed with the pains that held him.

"Speak," Kristen said, kneeling down to be closer to him.

The man looked from her to Alistair. "You're enemies of the state. Seditionists. Traitors to your own Houses."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The plan went off basically how Alistair thought it would be. Sure, Alistair might have narrowly avoided his brain getting skewered on a crossbow bolt, but every plan had its risk.

In the end, Alistair did not do much more than play distraction. He, honestly, felt a little bad about cutting his tendons now because the chains would have subdued him by himself. Oh well, that's what he got for trying to kill them.

He took a moment to calm himself as he started to realize just how close he had come to death but ended up rolling his eyes when he heard the assassin speak.

"Funnily enough, you are the ones actually disregarding the orders of the republic. I suspect there will be a great deal of you charged with treason."

He figured that there was no reason to also explain that he could not betray his own house because it was his house, besides a drug-addicted mother and an unborn sibling...and a few aunts, uncles, and cousins that he could not care less about.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"You fool. It is we who have the backing of the Republic!" the assassin winced and groaned again. "You may have survived me, you might survive this battle, but in the end you'll both be hanged."

"Enough," Kristen said. "You will live long enough to see that it is the folly of Commander Vogel that has placed you now in this woeful state."

She pulled the daggers out from their sheaths on his hips and flung them deep into the store, where they clattered and became lost among the debris of the pots.

Then to Alistair as she stood, "We need to garner the attention of a guard or soldier to take him." She pointed her artificial hand down at him and a Chain slithered out from her palm and roughly constricted the assassin about his chest, pinning his arms to his sides. In some strange way she looked something like an ancient tribal warrior, dragging back to her lands the trophy of a captured enemy fighter.

"Surely said guard or soldier will be delighted to keep watch over him rather than man the wall."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

That is exactly what happened. Normally, Alistair would be against dragging a prisoner of war through the streets, but Alistair did not like this guy and he thought it looked fun.

"Hey, you!... Watch this man for us. If he even flinches the wrong way then hit him as hard as possible with the blunt end of your spear."

Alistair's chosen guard was likely around their age, but obviously without the years of brutal training and killing people. He was likely just a farmer's boy that got drafted as soon as the city was under siege. He looked strong enough, but he gripped his spear like one would hold a large club.

Before he moved on, his eyes lit up with inspiration as he leaned over and touched the man. A runic eye on his arm slid down from his body to imprint itself on the arm of the assassin.

"See that eye? I now can know where you are, and if I feel like it, I can make it explode. Needless to say, you will not like that."

Al heard a confused confirmation from the guard, and Alistair was off running towards the wall. There was still a fight they needed to finish.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen's Chain uncoiled itself from around the assassin's body, retracting back into her palm, as Alistair flagged down a young Banick guard. The assassin would be bold indeed to attempt some sly move whilst weaponless, injured, and now with one of Alistair's runic eyes branded on him.

To further drive home the point, Kristen pulled back the sleeve of her mail shirt to fully expose her artificial hand for the assassin to see. Her eyes bored into the man with stern warning.

"Trust what he says."

And then she started off in a run alongside Alistair down the (now all too familiar) main avenue of Ostia Anir. Briefly, the thought: was that a touch too much? Did it upset Alistair that she had opened up an old wound to scare the assassin into compliance? She hoped not...but she knew how he had felt about the whole incident in Alyr'Morath.

Even in all of the clamor and commotion, the hurry toward the gates and the trepidation of what was to come in the battle, Kristen made it a point to tell Alistair later that the hand he had forged for her was the most significant gift she had ever received. And that his kindness was a true rarity amongst the denizens of the Academy.

First, they needed to survive this dreadful dawn.

"Pray," she said as they ran, "that the orders will be here soon!"

* * * * *​

Walter Banick arrived at the head of the formation of elite Banick soldiers standing before the gates of Ostia Anir, clad in armor and ready to receive the enemy. The battering ram on the other side of the gates was steadily doing its work, gigantic BOOMs with each impact. The magic reinforcing the gates and the magic enhancing the battering ram cancelled one another out, and so now it was down to the tried and true mundane methods of physical force and manpower.

The gate was splintering, but holding.

Not for much longer, though. Not much longer at all.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

For all of Alistair's stoicism and emotionless veneer, he could not help but mentally wince at Kristen's words. They were the perfect words to drive the point home, but it was still a reminder of one of Alistair's greatest mistakes. Thankfully, he had already turned to walk away, so no one would see his emotions.

Kristen's final words almost struck as equally an emotional cord, but Alistair adamantly shook his head in denial. No, the words would arrive soon. They had to. Alistair and Kristen had done everything correctly. They had done the impossible, performed one of the longest magical transmissions without a set receiver, and they were both still only initiates. For all of this...it just had to work, it had to.

**********​

As they made the last turn in the corner, Alistair saw Walter and his soldiers up ahead. They made it in time, kind of. Alistair would have been of more use before this, but he would have to settle for fighting in this battle.
He was already starting to draw runes in the air as they came closer, but most of them were simple attack spells that he would trigger as soon as the gates gave in.

"Kristen, give it all you got at the very start. No holding back."

They did not have the numbers here, so better to try and overwhelm the other side before they had a chance to get through the gate. They likely would not be able to hang on in a prolonged battle, anyways.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"I will," Kristen said. "I promise on my family's honor that I will."

There was absolutely no room for compromise here. This was, with no mistake, going to be a fight for their lives. The assassin had put it plainly enough, hadn't he: Vogel's forces were under the impression that everyone in Ostia Anir was a seditionist, a traitor to the Republic. Even in the best case, if the men and women under Vogel's command did not particularly have such strong feelings on the matter, they nevertheless were following the orders of their superiors, for the discipline of the Guard forbade them from doing otherwise.

Their names would count for nothing here. Pirian, Krixus, even Banick—nobles were worth more alive than dead in the vast majority of cases, but there would be no ransoming here, would there?

"Kristen! Alistair! To me!"

Speaking of Banick, Walter had looked back and seen the two tall Initiates over the helmeted heads of his men and called to them. Kristen gave one look to Alistair and then proceeded to the front of the formation, the arching gateway tunnel before them, the gates holding but only just barely.

Walter wasted no time. When Kristen got close, he clapped a heavy hand down on her shoulder and said, "If it is here that I perish, and by fortune you live, then there is something you must know."

He leaned into her ear and whispered. Kristen's face paled to an alabaster hue, and her eyes widened with blatant shock—she looked much as she had when Walter confessed to her the night of the infiltration. Then Walter pulled back. A hard expression he gave to her: not one of condemnation, but rather of support. Like a master sending off a learner with the words You know what you must do.

Walter looked to Alistair then. Said, "You're a good lad, Alistair, and you'll soon be a great man. Never believe the words of anyone who says otherwise."

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

Alistair never stopped hanging runes, he was putting out anything that he could think of and could also do in a short time. He used attack spells defense spells, and even a few that bolstered those around him. When he finally pulled the trigger on all of them, it would likely feel like his magical energy evaporated near instantly, but he was leaving just enough to keep him on his feet.

As he was called, he made his way through the crowd of soldiers, many moving out of the way as they realized their lord was calling them forward.

Alistair took out a regular sword and dagger and was ensuring his makeshift armor was fitting properly. He honestly wasn't paying that much attention until he finished to realize he was whispering something to Kristen. With dismay, when she looked up, he saw the emotions in her eyes. Whatever was said, even if it was meant in kindness, now was not the time to be clouding her head with any other thoughts.

The compliment Banick offered to him after was barely heard. After a moment, he nodded in acknowledgment "Thank you, sir."

He turned to Kristen, "Hey, are you ready?"

Before she could voice anything, the gnarled sound of wood and metal bending and breaking as the battering ram finally succeed in its task.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

She'd scarcely a moment to even give Alistair any sort of looking confirming her resolution.

The gates finally broke, the barricading bar holding the doors together tumbling loose, and what was revealed on the other side was the battering ram, a mass of waiting Vogel soldiers.

And a Dreadlord. Berj Nihels. He was floating off of the ground, the tips of his bare feet inches removed from it. Deeply tanned was his skin—enough to make people think he might be of mixed Kaliti descent—and this contrasted with his stark white hair flowing in voluminous waves past his shoulders. His eyes seemed to blaze blue, and his mouth and nose were hidden by a tight cloth mask. A flanged mace was in his hand.

He was the so-called "Master of Decay." Swarms of carrion insects he could summon, open wounds could be made to fester and turn gangreneous in mere seconds, he could choke the air with debilitating miasma, the simple touch of his hand could inflict crippling disease upon his foes, and other horrid methods of decay were his domain.

Yet these were not his only skills. Presently, he had a shield up, a strong College magic ward, to protect against any barrages once the gates were open. It was a logical tactic to anticipate.

Now Berj's eyes picked out his two younger Dreadlord kin as he floated into the gateway tunnel, the Vogel soldiers behind him staying back. His voice was smooth, as elegant as a nobleman's. "The Initiates. I was hoping for Saydor, or perhaps Jurin. But you two...will suffice."

Berj waved a challenging invitation with his hand. "Come. This will be between you...and me."

Kristen swallowed, hoping the motion of her jaw and her throat wasn't so obvious. She glanced sidelong to Alistair. Held that gaze for a moment. And then nodded, accepting the peril of what lay before her. Before them. A full-fledged Dreadlord.

She stepped forward into the gateway tunnel. Terrified to death, but stepping forward nonetheless.

Alistair Krixus

---

1. Roll a d100 for each post.
2. If you roll higher than 60, your attack will hit Berj. The higher the number, the more effective the hit.
3. With 60 or less, it will be dodged, countered, or mitigated in some way.
3. With enough hits, Berj will be defeated.
4. Rolling a 100 will instantly have that character incapacitate Berj. However, rolling a 1 will see that character instantly incapacitated.

 

[Alistair Krixus]

The Dreadlord that entered through the gates was not someone he wanted to meet. He had heard of Berj, enough to know that his magics did not work well to counter the Dreadlord. He would likely have to compete mostly with college magic. His runes were far more individualist in nature, less suited for handling swarms of bugs.

Still, he triggered all the runes hanging in the air, several attack spells went flying at the Dreadlord while a few spells would help bolster the troops from any miasma.

The bombardment of spells was enough to bring a cloud of dust up. Unbelievably, when the cloud cleared, it looked like Berj had barely been affected. His wards had weathered Alistair's entire arsenal. Son of a bitch. Not a scratch that Alistair could see.

This was the part where Alistair could feel the sweat forming on his palms, the nerves beginning to build. He immediately dropped his sword, but it was only to pull out the runesaber. In this case, hiding his best weapon might prove to mean his death.

He swallowed for a second and put up his most confident smile.

"You should have hoped for Saydor harder. It would have been easier for you."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Much like champions sent forth by ancient armies did Berj on the one side and Alistair and Kristen on the other enter the gateway tunnel, Walter's forces and Vogel's forces watching at opposite ends. Elsewhere along the walls the battle raged, Anirians fighting Anirians. Within the gateway tunnel, it would be a sight not so uncommon for those versed in the Academy of old: Dreadlord versus Dreadlord.

Alistair set off his traps, yet Berj weathered the storm without any significant effort. Kristen felt a wave of frigid fright cascading inside of her chest, but she wouldn't allow herself to give in. Alistair's taunting words to Berj gave her a boost in confidence, shoring up her own steel.

She wasn't alone. They were in this. Together.

Kristen shot out her artificial hand and a Chain flung forth from her palm. Berj swerved with minimal movement to one side as he floated, the Chain sailing past. The end of it curved back around to try to wrap him around him, yet his levitation and graceful maneuvering of his body avoided it.

He glided closer to Kristen. Whipped his offhand at her as if trying to rid it of dampness, yet it was not droplets of water which flew from his hand but a small puff of gas. Kristen stumbled back, eyes itching, nose running, coughing and gasping, temporarily disoriented.

Berj in that same motion of stunning Kristen with the gas swung his mace at Alistair. Not with incredible, deadly force, damaging force yes, but as well almost...toying with him. Disrespectfully not taking him seriously by refusing as yet to give a committed effort.

Alistair Krixus

 

[Alistair Krixus]

From what Alistair knew of Berj, flying did not come from his innate talent, so that meant he was able to move this gracefully through the air with just his knowledge of college magic, incredible.

Thankfully, Alistair and Kristen had spaced out enough that they were not hit in the same puff of gas. Berj's magic was powerful, long-range, and could have a wide area of effect. This was not going to be fun, but Alistair's best chance was to get in close.

Ironically, Berj seemed to have the same idea, but it was likely because of his underestimation of them. The first strike Berj sent towards Alistair had none of the killing intent that a dreadlord strike should have. Big mistake, one that Alistair was not going to let him get away with.

Alistair stepped into Berj's range with the precision and confidence of a practiced swordsman, swing the hilt of the runesaber down, only activating the blade inches away from Berj's body, and managed to cut across the arm holding the mace.

The initiate quickly stepped back out of his range, not wanting to provide an opening, but he put up another cocky smile just to anger the man.

"Really, you let an initiate hit you like that, and here I thought this was going to be a challenge."

Kristen Pirian