[b][center]The human village[/center][/b]

Torrens' sudden explosion would have left any normal pyromancer with a mere half second to prepare, but the fire priest had seen it coming. Whether his god had whispered it into his mind or it had been a mere intuition, he had suddenly raised his fists as if to block a punch. A wall of solid fire appeared in front of his body to shield him, the flames glowing gold like the sun rather than orange or red.

When the explosion came a magical shield wasn't enough to stop it, flames or no. At first he had leaned forward into the unstoppable force, skidding backwards but not falling over, but then the magic of his shield shattered like a glass mirror. The blast overcame him and threw him backwards, where he was thrown on the ground, tumbling and rolling until he was stopped by a stone wall. His head slammed straight into it and blood spattered like juice from a crushed grape. The explosion had obliterated the stone walls to either side of the alley that Torrens had been in and the insides of those houses were already turning into a pyre for the terrified people who cowered within.

Yet despite being hit with an explosion that shattered stone walls, engulfed in fire that could melt steel, and slammed against a wall with enough force to crack open his skull, the priest somehow clung to life. He knew that he didn't have long, but perhaps long enough to have his vengeance. "Caldor curse you, demon!" he choked out barely loud enough to be heard, then raised a fist. His arm was weak and shaking, but he poured everything that he had left and all that Caldor would lend him into that one last spell. 

Fire priests did not only work with flame; they also maintained the sacred torches and burned holy incense, and so they wielded a great deal of power over smoke as well. The smoke and ash from everything within a hundred feet began to waft upwards and coalesce into a great, malevolent cloud. Torches, candles, even the burning houses...all their fumes were magically pulled together into a great grey cloud. The priest's last sight was that of the cloud descending on his killer like some sort of living nightmare, engulfing the fire demon. Seemingly with a mind of its own, the cloud would try to choke out Torrens' fire, encasing him in a layer of ash and tar and blinding him within a choking cloud of soot.

In the square, the great brute that was Athinar suddenly charged out of an alleyway straight towards the town's lord, knocking aside one guard in his way by delivering a blow to the head that crushed the man's skull. He didn't even cover half the distance before about ten crossbowmen took aim. [i]Twang, twang, twang[/i] was the sound that the weapons made as the sinews fired their quarrels. Athinar was moving fast, to be sure, but with so many crossbows on him a few bolts would most likely find their targets.

His attention caught by the whistlign of the sudden hail of bolts and cries of alarm, the knightly lord raised his sword and prepared to fell this enemy. This [i]barbaric invader.[/i]

But then an arrow struck him in the shoulder. Of course, the arrow's tip couldn't even find its way through his shoulder, but it had some sort of enchantment. A thin layer of ice began to coat his shoulder, rapidly seeping into the seams of his armor and freezing it solid. His arm rapidly grew immobile. With only a second to think, the knight made the decision to hurl his shield straight at Athinar and then take up his sword in his other arm.

As some of the crossbowmen and sorcerers in the square now began to fire at the traitorous archer on the rooftops that was Umbra, the champion realized that fighting a fair fight with his bad arm was suicide. His enemy wasn't honorable...why should he be? He would fight dirty and take his foe off guard. With a flick of his wrist the sword flew up, and the knight caught it again. This time he hand held the sword by its blade instead of by its hilt. As if it were some sort of warhammer, he swung the thing and aimed to smash its guard and hilt into Athinar's face. Then he snapped the blade back low to hook the man by the ankle with the guard, and he pulled with all his strength in an attempt to take out Athinar's feet from beneath him and send the brute crashing onto the ground.