Avad laughed, though he still faint faint. Gallows humor.

"Please, Wledic. You remember me from a decade back? Well, I'm going maverick again."

His mind raced as much as it could, analyzing the situation from every tactical standpoint. [i]Okay. Surrounded by a small unit of guardsmen. Approximately twenty-five, if I had to guess.[/i] His face scanned the crowd. [i]One High Battlemage, Anton Vedvoin. Specializes in ice and storm magic. So that's where my clouds went. Two Battlemages, brother and sister; Erin and Serra Nolindin. Both specialize in fire. Ten or so spearmen. Spears are useful in nullifying electricity. About that many sword-and-shield knights. Metal sheilds are a weak point. They conduct electricity. All are dressed in metal armor.[/i] Major [i]weak point. I'm nearly out of innate magic, but there's a Vedlyn stone in my spellbook I've been charging for six years. If there ever was a time to use it, it was now.[/i]

He reached out to his spellbook, opening it to the back cover and yanking a large blue-white gem out. It glowed with a brilliant blue light, and he palmed it, forcing himself to breathe deeply. As he took cover in case of magic—no archers among the troops—he began to channel the energy from the stone into himself. The headache receded, and with it the faintness. He ground out to his allies, "everybody hold on to something and plug your ears!" before forcing all of the [i]considerable[/i] energy that had been in the stone into a single spell.

"[color=7ea7d8]Achmat atial venedin altolis manahasta irredire verelest na'in[/color]!"

A shockwave of lightning raced out from him along the ground. No stormclouds for Anton, no fire for Erin or Serra. The lightning arced up the metal armor worn by all the guards except the battlemages, electrocuting them where they stood. Then, a second or so after, there was an intense wave of sound as a thunderclap exploded from beneath them, launching the guards several feet into the air. His hands, occupied with sigil-tracing, were unable to plug his ears, and the sound shredded his eardrums, leaving him in immense pain and deafness. The shockwave knocked him back from where he was standing at the edge of the cart, cannoning him back into the side. Through all the pain, though, before unconsciousness grabbed him, he shouted out one phrase:

"Go! Ride!"

Then nothingness.