The air was electric as the two mages stared off at each other. A tense few moments passed, both unmoving, until Marcus felt a tug at his shoulder. It was the knight. He was fast, how had he scurried up to him so quickly. Marcus nearly tumbled as the knight pulled, but offered no further resistance. Perhaps it would be better for them to just try escaping. Could they even escape a hell like this? Could they even outrun hellspawn like that? Already, the elven band was in tatters, only a handful even left standing. Even fewer still seemed willing to fight.

“Perhaps you’re right, Sir Knight… It may be best to flee this fight. But didn’t I hear that one elf speaking of a King? Isn’t it concerning… Might he have been referring to [i]your[/i] King? That’s the only King I’m aware of. If he’s nearby, he’s in great danger…” If they were talking earlier about the Aretan king, this was no place for the hope for peace between their two lands. Thankfully he wasn't among this chaos. He backed away from the cliff side and looked over to the Knight. Even in his weakened state, the man looked more than imposing with that blade in his hand. Marcus really hoped he wouldn’t end up tasting that steel. He decided that he would rather die later rather than soon and took another step away from the cliff but froze once again when the bug mage began skittering below.

The way it moved so quickly and ascended the cliff was unnatural and surreal. In no time, the creature had reached the top of the highest point of the cliff just up ahead of the mage and knight. Marcus took another step back and firmed his grip of his staff. When the spider hit the earth with its scepter, the ground immediately began shifting under Marcus’ feet. He tried to backpedal under more stable ground, but found none. This creature was going to swallow them all whole into a gaping maw of sand, there wasn’t any way to escape this! He looked around at the disintegrating landscape and back to the Knight. He was surely finding himself in a similar situation, rocks turning into a sea of sand beneath them. If he didn’t try something fast, he doubted there would be anything left for anyone to find.

Already sunken to his ankles, Marcus lifted his staff and focused all of his strength through it. The end began to glow. First a dull red as it brightened into a brilliant white. He finally released the ball of energy, more closely resembling plasma than a ball of fire. It sizzled and crackled through the air as it hurtled directly for the spider mage no more than fifteen feet away from the young mage. As Marcus watched the ball make its way to the creature, he awkwardly lifted his legs, trying to free himself from what felt like quicksand. It wasn’t very effective, any weight immediately sinking right back into the sloshing sands. It was maddening trying to fight both a mage and the whole of all the earth around him.

It reminded him of stories of Vicena’s past, none of them plesant.