The Firaxian border was as harsh and hot as Alfen had remembered. No more than four months ago he had helped a town prepare for a frightening storm heading in their direction, offering to use his powerful magic to channel the lighting away from the town and fight off bandits that roamed the area. Bandits were a common threat in the southern territories of Edonia, and the endless canyons and mountains in the south made it easy for them to hide from the authorities. His visit to the south had not been entirely selfless, however. He too had thought Reynir might have spent time along the border, figuring that he always had a fondness for the canyons in the south. Alfen failed to find any clues of Reynir's presence here though, and something in the back of his mind made him feel like this trip would end up the same way. He didn't expect to be back here so soon regardless. He hated the dry, hot air, and the sand which bit into his skin. "Hey..so...we shouldn't be long now, right? I wish Darren would've gave us the exact location for Reynir.." Alfen complained, dragging his feet along the ground and leaving an indent in the loose, dusty ground beneath them. Alfen knew that not too far ahead loomed the gates of the nearest town, but every step exhausted him and he felt as if it would take them a decade to reach it. "Hey, that's it!" Alfen called out, catching his second wind. He picked up speed, running just over the sandy ridge to get a better view of the town. Set on one of the few open plains that the southern border had to offer, surrounded by cliffs and deeper canyons, sat Pyrello. It was a small town, sustained almost entirely off of its poor but sustainable agriculture. Great wooden palisades surrounded the town, enough to ward off even the bravest and stupidist of bandits. Alfen expected the gates to be firmly shut, the people within the walls going about their daily business, and the people of Pyrello to be surviving as best they could in the dry badlands. He was wrong. The gates of Pyrello had been torn open, struck with great force by bolts of arcane energy and the razor-sharp edges of heavy axes. Smoke rose up from one of the buildings that had been set alight, and the fire was starting to spread quickly throughout the town. Off in the distance, just faintly, the sounds of screaming could be heard, and like a pack of hyenas a group of men forced their way through the settlement, stealing and destroying everything they could. Alfen looked at both Anna and Monarch with a stern expression, his hands clenched into fists, lightning danced and jumped around his body. "We need to help the townsfolk!" He shouted, rushing forward to see the damage. He suspected it was a Bandit attack. [b]xxx[/b] Graive, a musclar and shaggy haired man wearing a long, black coat laughed loudly to himself. The plan had gone off without a hitch! His men, clad in the brown leather, long, dusty coats, and the red bandanas of the Desert Wolves, had pulled off one of the most spectacular raids he had ever seen. Pyrello's walls, once sturdy and proud, if simple, and been torn down with the liberal use of fire magic and wild beasts, corralled by his men into the gates, breaching a hole in them. The Firaxian bison had all scattered now, but they were more than useful in breaching Pyrello's walls. His men had swarmed in only moments later, eliminated the local militia and had the town on lockdown. They would plunder it for all its worth, and then let it burn to the ground. They had smugly sat behind their walls for long enough, and Graive was finally glad to teach them a lesson. He held a short blade up to the neck of the town mayor, a thin and wispy old man wearing what might have been a well tailored brown suit a few decades ago. His other hand held the man's collar tightly, pressing him against a wall. Although most of the town had run like cowards the moment Graive and his men had shown up, the mayor had shown a surprising amount of courage against the invading group of bandits. Still, it had not helped him escape, and now the two of them stood in the mayor's office as Graive's men tore the town to pieces. Graive grinned, pulling his knife away from the mayor's neck and slowly pacing to the other side of the room. He twirled the knife around in his hand, and after a few swift movements it shattered into a crystaline glass, eventually vanshing completely. When he heard the mayor move though he turned on his heel, pulling his hand back and motioned throwing a knife. As he did so the crystaline knife reformed, leaving his hand the moment it appeared. It just missed the mayor's shoulder, but snagged on his coat. The knife stuck deep into the wall, pinning the mayor there. "Not so fast," Graive said, grinning. "We're not done talking." Moments later the door to the mayor's office was forced open,shattered into a thousand shards, and Graive felt something heavy strick him in the back of the head. [b]xxx[/b] He might have had the chance to follow through with his threat, if it had not been for the thundering strike that impacted his stomach, and then a second which struck the side of his face. As he was tossed aside, thrown into the wall of the next building over, he barely registered what had happened. A pillar of earth had burst forth, striking him in the belly, and a second had aimed for his head. As he moved a hand to his head to nurse the wound, the brick walls of the building he led against shifted and contorted, bands of stone forcing themselves around his wrists and holding his hands there. "What the f-" A second band of stone wrapped around the man's face and neck, covering his mouth and silencing him in an instant. Another man off in the distance smirked, although his scarf and hood made it impossible to see. The figure made his presence known quickly. He stepped out from an alleyway into the town centre of Pyrello, where the majority of Graive's men had now gathered. He held what looked to be a man by the collar, dragging him out across the ground into the centre of the town. Bandits reacted to his presence instantly, drawing weapons and summoning what eldritch power they had. As they barked threats and orders to the unusual outsider, they expected him to panic and run, but he barely reacted. The man did, however, stop before the growing crowd of bandits, many of whom had arrived to investigate the commotion. He was an almost impossibly tall figure, at least a head over the majority of the [insert bandit group here], but his clothing masked his other features. A scarf wrapped around his face and neck, and the attached hood covered most of his head and hair, leaving only a pair of dark grey eyes peering out from within. He wore a long poncho which covered his torso and arms. His feet were uncovered, but he seemed to walk with no discomfort over the shards of glass and stone that littered the floor. With one hand he raised the figure he held in his hand, lifting him up by the collar. It took the crowd surrounding him to recognise who it was, but when they did, their expressions twisted into those of fury. The man held up Graive, their leader, who had clearly been in the fight of his life. His nose was broken, as was his arm, and he looked to have been knocked out cold. "Leave," he said, his voice deep. "Or end up like him." In one motion he threw Graive aside effortlessly, and the man's body crashed into the ground. A few members of the crowd moved to assist him, but other than try to rouse him there was little they could do. "What? You think we're so mindless that just 'cause you roughed up our leader we're gonna run like cowards?!" called out one man, his hands rippling with arcane energy. "C'mon, boys. Let's show this punk a lesson!" He leapt forwards, grinning madly as he bridged the gap between himself and the mysterious stranger in mere seconds. His arm pulled back, and with a mighty pulse of energy he thrust his hand forwards, an open palm aimed for the hooded man's chest. The man smirked for a second time. The vigilante turned on the spot, thrusting an arm out to grab the bandit's wrist and pressing another open palm against his chest. In a single motion the vigilante threw the man to the ground effortlessly. Taken back by the impressive display of strength by the robed stranger, the other bandits hesitated to make a move. "This guy isn't some pushover," one of them said, taking on a more serious combat stance. He paused though, as if distracted by something. "We should-... Wait, can you hear that? That sounds like... electrici-" Alfen, leaping out from behind him in a flurry of lightning, struck the man in the face with a closed fist. His punch was charged with energy, and the force of the magical impact not only launched the man back but also caught up three other men beside him, lifting them from the ground and firing them fifty feet away. They crashed to the ground, battered and bruised in a mess of tangled limbs. Alfen stretched out his arms, grinning with amusement. "Man it's good to let off some steam when you've been travelling a long time! Especially on scum such as this bunch of sorry looking ass clowns" Half of the crowd turned to Alfen, now caught between two opponents. "You dare!? I'll kill you!" called out one of the other thugs as he ran to Alfen, blade drawn. With a smirk, Alfen pulled back his arm, readying an open. "Thunder Art: Punishing Wave!" He extended his palm with frightening speed, the thrust hitting the thug directly in the torso. Thunder forced its way into the man's body, and a moment later he could be seen against the wall of a nearby wall of a building. Alfen noticed the heavily robed man, and with a smile he waved. Even with his hood up, Alfen could recognise the man from a mile away. "Hey! Reynir! How's it goin'?!" Reynir responded by lifting his foot up and bringing it down to the ground. Cracks appeared where his boot fell, and the ground beneath him shook violently. The ground shifted, the cracks grew wider, before they shot towards the bandits. The earth forced itself apart and a chasm formed fifteen feet across, splitting the bandit party in two. He looked up to Alfen and winked, grinning. "Those ones are all yours," he said, motioning to the bandits on the side closer to the younger man. Alfen nodded, a grin etched into his face. It showed Alfen's love for fighting and was an expression that Reynir knew all too well. The lightning mage looked over the party of bandits and simply cracked both his knuckles. "This'll be fun" Alfen muttered under his breath, grinning as he motioned for the bandits to strike first. They were hesitant, but one man to Alfen's left soon charged in, readying his sword for a strike. The mage sidestepped the swipe and followed with a straight kick up into the air and into the bandit's face. The force and strength of the kick threw the attacker upwards, and he crashed through the wooden roof of a tavern. Alfen looked to his right seeing more mages pelting him with magic bolts. Alfen thrusted both palms in front, generating a wave of thunder, repelling the missiles back at the mages. It wasn't long before Alfen had driven the majority of the bandits on his side away, however, a larger, bulkier man marched towards Alfen, clad in heavy armor and weilding a large mace in his hand. He stopped just a few feet away from Alfen, his left hand flowing with a red/orange hue, enchanting the mace in his right hand. Alfen smirked as he proceeded to stretch. "An enchanter, eh? by the looks of the element I'd say you enchanted your mace with fire" Alfen remarked just as the Mace head lit up in flames. "Yep, thought so" Alfen cracked his knuckles, a smirk swept across his face as he anticipated the challenge of this Bandit. "Time for me to use a new spell I crafted a few days ago! Lighting Creation: Sky Piercing Armaments!" Lightning wrapped around his forearms and feet, glowing with a golden hue and bright light. He looked at the large bandit ahead, his left arm outstretched with a thumbs down. "Time to take you out!" Alfen rushed forward, taking a lunge at the bandit with a jump kick, however, the flaming mace came across and swiped Alfen into the nearby building. Alfen crashed hard, his clothes barely missed being singed. The bandit broke through the wall, swinging his mace from side to side, aiming to hit Alfen with strength and vigor. Alfen was already up, dodging and weaving between each swing, narrowly escaping each swing. The Bandit, getting frustrated and angry, moved faster with each swing, managing to get Alfen in the stomach with a might blow. Alfen felt the wind leave him, seeing that the Bandit lifted his Mace, ready to bring it down on him. Alfen sidestepped at the last minute, turning around and lunging forward with a swift punch. The Bandit staggered back by the force of the punch, but Alfen saw this as his chance. He lunged again, following with another punch, but instead of putting all his force into, he put only enough for him to continue a combo. Alfen struck blow after blow, in the body of the Bandit, following up with a powerful uppercut. Alfen then rushed forward with a dropkick, knocking the big guy into the streets. Alfen readied both his palms. "You ready for this?" Alfen grounded himself, waiting for the Bandit to rush him. As the Bandit roared with anger, Alfen smirked. "Heh....Unified Art: Demon Wave" as the Bandit came into range, Alfen struck him in his abdomen with both palms with speed. The bandit was sent flying crashing through a wall as he lay unconscious in the rubble. The lightning energy dissipated from his legs and arms. Alfen looked over to Reynir. "Hey Reynir! how'd you fair? good workout right?" "Stone Spirit Evoker," Reynir said, just loud enough that Alfen could hear. The younger man grinned and pumped his fist into the air. "Tear 'em to pieces, Reynir!" he called out, grinning widely. "Djinn!" the older man continued, and with a sharp movement of his arms the earth burst forth from the ground, binding and coiling itself are Reynir's body. The bandits moved into strike while they had the opportunity, but blades and magic pinged harmlessly off of the stoney shield Reynir had created. Mages tried to tear the earth apart with powerful force magic, but the wounds quickly resealed as more earth was layered over it. It was only a moment later than the mass of stone began to move. It tore itself up from the earth, a humanoid form of stone and steam that stood in place of Reynir. It had diamond shaped body with razor-sharp blades of stone protruding from its back and sides, and was supported by two legs which ended in sharp points. Its arms ended in lethally sharp blades, and steam poured out from the cracks along the surface of the stone golem's hide. Small flames licked around his body, and with a furious battlecry he charged. The battle took mere moments. Reynir struck down the bandits with a flurry of strikes from his scythe-like limbs, and threw them aside effortlessly with his Canyon Art spells. The earth shook with every spell he cast, and the bandits stood no chance against him in this form. Monarch stood cautiously at a distance, watching the fight unfold.