Dremmick, Lucious, Aeden

	Dremmick was surprised to see the doors to the Taxis HQ burst open just as he arrived. Out strut the Amaiah, the scientist who he had met earlier with an interesting potion in her hands, one in which had a power that he could actually feel even though he wasn't even quite yet in arms reach of the thing. His eyes actually seemed to brighten up by the item, intrigued by how she may have made it. This may mean that it could be mass produced and distributed without the need to cart around a holier-than-thou royal everywhere. Plus they could cover more areas rapidly.

It didn't take long though before that glistening pain in the ass came out to take it for himself interupting the two before Dremmick had a chance to respond to her. Dremmick held a hand up to Amaiah and then gestured for her to leave. He cut his eyes over to the stuck up man, words unwavering. [color=A52A2A]"Actually, it was me... "[/color] Dremmick said as he stepped between the two, giving Amaiah the chance to leave. [color=A52A2A]"This is not yours to take. 'Bargaining tool'? You only wish to spread this cure to the ones who submit to being under the heel of your boot. That's not how this works. I was aware that in the event of forming this alliance that we were to show the nations that we need to come together to defeat Nuxta. You know, the one who's forces have now attacked this town twice within the past few day? What you suggest would do nothing but create more division and many unnecessary lives lost."[/color] His voice was low, and his hood and muffler were down, not hiding behind it anymore and meeting the man eye to eye. [color=A52A2A]"It....stays..."[/color] he said defiantly. 

	Lucius looked at Dremmick in the eyes. A cold glare was set like a patient cat waiting to pounce when the moment was right. He did not waver at the sight of his bloodied clothes and the smell of sweat and vigor. [i]His arm..[/i] Lucius began to feel the presence coming from Dremmick. "What do you plan on doing with it? Parading around with it as you are is madness. Our King is a humble being despite his great power and wisdom. He asks his royal family to guide him in matters such as this. And so I will do this. For my King." Lucius placed a hand on the hilt of his blade. "I warn you one last time alliance dog. Out of my way." His lips quivered with a twitch of anger despite his cool demeanor. "Or you will face my divine blade."

	[color=A52A2A]"Don't make me laugh, you do this for yourself, not your king. I would rather see it distributed wherever it was needed, creating alliances with the other nations instead of creating a resource war with them as your asinine plan would have it. If your king takes advice from people with as little foresight as the likes of you, I'd wager him to be a bigger fool than you are, [i]should that be possible[/i]."[/color] Dremmick knew he was probably saying all the right things to piss this guy off.  The way Lucious's lip quivered as he placed his hand on his blade told him that much. As Lucious gave him one last threat, a very unnerving and wicked smile cracked across Dremmicks face.  He then called Lucious out on his challenge,[color=A52A2A]"[i]Come... try your luck.[/i]"[/color]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JurpA8m91nw[/youtube]

	"As you wish." Lucius's well trained arms flung the blade from its sheathe in one swift motion. Moving before the blade was released was best. But having full knowledge of the blade's length was the issue. Though his blade was pretty standard and seemed to be a bit below three feet. However as the blinding light of the blade was released into the open its length was very hard to read. It was in fact  somehow a foot long than its own sheathe. Indicating the blade was made or enhanced by divine light. This revelation would be too slow to come to onlookers, or to one facing this blade from short distance. Aiming to raise the blade up from the armpit he sought to sever Dremmick's arm from the bottom up to the shoulder. [i]That arm. I'll have it.[/i] Lucius thought.

	Dremmick watched his movements carefully, waiting for him to undoubtedly make the first move. Sure enough, he did and Dremmick was ready though his stance still seemed casual. Dremmick's first attack was a breath of fire directed towards Lucious's face, to  catch him off guard and disrupt his opening attack. Dremmick would use that opportunity to evade with a sidestep and twist his body to put his weight behind an attack to Lucious's side. A blood spike formed on his fist as he drove a punch to his kidney, even if it didn't pierce through, the spike would extend out to push him away.

	Since the dawn of the descendant era the Sol have been the considered the most feeble, save for the seraphim. Their love of peace was soon changed to a coupling of defending oneself and others. In doing so they formed an easy to use spell. A coating of a divine light barrier surrounded his entire person. Briefly as it were, it was visible for a moment as it made contact with the fire. With a firm mind Lucius knew what could harm him and not through training and studying of his own bloodline. Though he was not often out in battle he was considered special in a combat sense. His blade did not waver, seeing the flames as nothing more than a petty attempt to spit in his face.

	Dremmick noted the man use a barrier to get through his fire and in that instant changed his coarse of action while he sidestepped. Lucious's blade met Dremmick, though not where he planned, instead the blade sliced Dremmick across the chest, which made his sidestep tumble into a roll, his arm leaving some blood on the ground as he did so. When he came up from the roll he was already swiping hos arm up,  a heavy spike of crimson punching up from the ground from where he was. He didn't let up there however as he was punching forward toward Luciousnas her stood up, another crimson spike erupting forward toward his target from his arm. As he fought however, Dremmick was also releasing a crimson mist into the air, concentrated around where they were fighting, but safely away from bystanders.

	By now those watching were backing away, some demanding they stop but forced to the side by Lucius's knights who were, if anyone escalated the situation, would draw their own blades. Lucius controlled the plants that were scattered about in front of the Taxis HQ. A vine came from the ground to wrap around Dremmick's leg. "Blood magic...?" He was slightly surprised by this. Narrowly avoiding the spikes by leaping left twice while facing Dremmick. "A Therosi among the alliance is shameful." He looked at the blood mist. "And your magic is worse than the Magoi's."

	[color=A52A2A]"I don't need their magic, "[/color] He grabbed the vine that wrapped around his leg, an ghostly silver aura appearing at his arm and streaming from his eyes. The plant wilted and he easily broke from it, the dipping his hand into the ground, plantlife dying around him as he pulled life energy from it and his arm started to glow whit hot once again.  He smirked at the comment about this mist as it thickened. The mist wasn't loose control of his ability, but rather the opposite, control of a cloud of his own blood, with the ability to create weapons or restraints anywhere in his area. Normally this would also mean breathing in his blood could become hazardous as he could then attack from inside of his victim, but the barrier kept him from that, for now anyway. Lucious would notice that even though there was a deep slash across his chest from where his blade struck, it didn't seem to be a bleeding open wound, there was just a line of crimson that seemed to be there instead. It [i]should[/i] have been deep enough to be fatal, yet the man stood in front of him as if  still waiting of his next move.

	Lucius could feel the vines depleted life energy. It's very essence drained by Dremmicks 'vile' magic. "Tch." He spat in disgust. Raising his blade he aimed it toward Dremmicks position. The mist of red not obstructing his view enough to hide the necromancer. "I've had enough of your putrid magic." His blade flashed a bright light. Causing most onlookers to flinch and close their eyes. His blade extended out in that flash and aimed to pierce through Dremmicks shoulder. Lucius would hold it there, if hit, for moving could cut Dremmicks body in two. So he presumed.

	When Dremmick saw Lucious raise his blade, he had an idea of what he was planning, he shot a crimson chain out at Lucious's feet. As soon as the blade of light surged forward, he pulled himself in towards Luscious to close the gap. The blade impacted his shoulder, but as he reeled himself in closer to Lucious, it sliced its way out and away, leaving what looked to be as if someone chopped down onto his should a good three or four inches. As his body got closer to his enemy's, however, Dremmick kicked off the ground, sending him rapidly into the air and above Lucious. Dremmick knew if he unleashed the stored energy in his arm on a flat plane towards Lucious it would hit bystanders, but from above, there was nothing but Lucious and the ground as Dremmick, upside down in the air looking at Lucious, unleashed the energy in his arm to hit him with a concussive blast of energy at nearly point blank range.

	When the chain hit his leg he smirked. "You're like a corpse." His blade reached Dremmick's shoulder and as it did he began to pull in. Lucius had to plant his stance wider to stay balanced under Dremmick's weight.  His blade's retraction was as instant as its extension. Dremmick was kicking off just as Lucius twirled his blade, spinning his wrist. Severing the chain as Dremmick aimed to use its momentum. Though he did get some air from his tactic. Lucius saw a clear setup for his opponent to attack. With a lowered stance Lucius rolled forward. Just as Dremmick's aura spiked to expel it out as his concussive blast. With the force of it tossing the dirt and debris in the air like a cloud of dust behind Lucius he raised to his feet to face Dremmick. Prepared to evade further.

	The dust kicked up from the impact was thick enough to hide Dremmick's body. There was a haunting chuckle that came from the dust. [color=A52A2A]"[i]Interesting choice of words,[/i]"[/color] he said as he came slowly walking out of the dust, appearing from it like a ghost. He held his right arm out and then clenched it into a fist, he had finally bought enough time to make the mist dense enough for his next move. Suddenly, the now very dense mist quickly conformed around Lucious's body, making a perfect shell of himself, fitted so that it would restrain him from moving. It was a thick crimson shell that had hardened into place.  Long spears then formed from the remaining  mist and set themselves in places around the shell, fusing to it, and prepared to impale their target in multiple places should he resist. [color=A52A2A]"Stand down. I will only tell you once..."[/color] he said, a murderous look in his eyes. If he was supposed to be some sort of hero, he definitely didn't look the part.

	For a few seconds Lucius seemed trapped. However even a child could sense the aura flaring beneath the veil of blood. Resonating with intense light Lucius's blade ate away at the blood that coated it. "That was my line earlier..." Lucius muttered, displeased by Dremmick's lack of creativity. The coating of crimson began to crack as light broke through it. "I'd break free all at once." Lucius began to say as his aura flared, filled to a higher capacity than it would be. Spending time sunbathing was how most Sol gained enough stamina to emit their many spells and manipulations. Thanks to Ami however Lucius was charged to a capacity he rarely experiences. "But the debris could hurt someone." The coating cracked and crumbled around Lucius's right arm which held the blade. He pointed it towards Dremmick. "You've yet to touch me." The red broke off around his eyes. "Do you not have pride? Even corpses carry badges of honor." He chuckled. "End this charade. You have no hopes of beating me."

	[color=A52A2A]"Only difference is...I meant it."[/color] He moved his hand down, and each of the spears drove in to pierce through, each of them driving to break the barrier and then drive into Lucious. Dremmick hated barrier users, they always loved to talk about how they are untouched as they hide behind a barrier, the look of their faces after it crumbled with a blade in their gut was usually worth the hassle though. His arm took its enlarged form with the thick blade-like claws at the end. He moved to Lucious's back left side as the spears continued their work, giving him a harder angle to work with when he had the chance to move his arm a bit. Thanks to his concern for the people and not breaking out at once, the chucks of hardened blood seem to just float back up to him and remold back into shape, fighting to restrain him. He drew upon the life energy in the plants around once again making his arm glow.  [color=A52A2A]"Now, how about that barrier?"[/color]

Dremmick surged forward spinning around to get momentum as he landed a backhand strike with his arm, releasing half of the stored energy along with it, creating a small concentrated blast at the point of impact instead of a large concussive wave like the other times. The blast was nothing compared to the one he tried to smash him with earlier, as a blast like that would continue through Lucious and into the people watching. Dremmick made sure to concentrate the energy into one spot though in order to try to punch through the barrier and knock him back.

	The spears moved in to strike Lucius. But given their short distance their momentum was weak. Their only hope was to drive into him through spins or constant force. "I pity you ignorance." Lucius said beneath the red. The spears pierced and freed Lucius faster than if he broke free on his own. Patience was a valuable cost it seemed as Lucius's own protection was not needed for the start of Dremmick's attempted skewering. Once the coating was weakened Lucius swiped around with his now freed arms indiscriminately slicing away the spears in a speed that left light streaks similar to a second barrier. It was just rapid slashes, but it acted as a deterrent to any attacks. Even one physical wave Dremmick launched, hitting Lucius. However he would suffer a few swipes from Lucius's whirling blade. Afterwards however Lucius would be skidding, but not knocked over. His barrier reaching its current limit.

	Aeden glanced behind him as he head a loud boom in the not-too-far distance. It distracted him slightly from the conversation already going on, and he certainly had plenty to pay attention to here with this group of strangers. A second blast occurred moments later which now had his full attention.

[color=ffd700]”Nyph,”[/color] he called out to his comrade. [color=ffd700]”That explosion was not far from here. Can you see from here what caused it or where it’s from?”[/color]

Nyph bobbed his head in compliance and flapped his wings to get airborne. The psuedodragon soared overheard. [color=yellow][i]”Looks like there’s a fight by one of the nearby buildings! Lots of dead plants! Looks like something drained them of life! This fight looks serious!”[/i][/color]

Aeden rolled his eyes at Nyph’s last comment. He had no idea what a non-serious fight looked like if they even existed. Every fight he had ever seen was a fight for one’s life or well-being. He turned toward the direction of the sound he heard before looking back at the strangers. [color=ffd700]”Looks like things might not be over. Lead the way, Nyph!”[/color]

He jogged back to the road and before long came up to a crowd. This did not look like a continuation of the plant raid that he just missed out on. This battle was more of a duel. He pushed his way through the crowd and as he made his way to the front his eyes quickly homed in on the traces of blood magic. His hand found its way to the handle of his sword as his attention settled on the duel. 

This blood magic was unlike anything he had ever witnessed as a slave. This blood magic was honed for battle. Aeden watched the fight carefully. He held back the urge to charge in recklessly and strike the blood mage, but his guy told him to maintain extraordinary caution. In the back of his mind something told him it did not make sense for a Therosi, an enemy to be here and openly acting like this.
He glanced at the person next to him. [color=ffd700]"What the hell is going on?"[/color]

	When Dremmick's attack made contact, he noticed the barrier shattered. He took a few hits to his cursed arm as that's what he hit him with, but there was a wild look in his draconic eyes that held a bloodlust that yearned to be quenched, pushing through the pain of the deep slashes. The pieces of the shell and broken spears liquefied and reformed themselves and started flying towards Lucious like a salvo of arrows, never aiming for the head, but looking to hit his body from multiple directions, some moving to pin his right wrist to the ground so that he couldn't move his sword. Any that missed or were deflected would back off to make another go. Dremmick was slowly approaching. He was a ghastly sight. He  was getting weaker and he knew it. soon, he would be at his limit unless he wanted to spread his curse further. His concentration on the salvo left his body to bleed naturally, wounds opening up again, though the more critical ones were left sealed. Wounds from years of fighting like this when it came to tougher enemies. He had already faced one tough foe today, and then this. He may be wrong for what he was doing, but he didn't care. He knew the kind of man this was. If he wasn't beaten here today, he would do what he wanted with the elixir, and many people would suffer the same fate of this town for no reason more than the worries of some self entitled noble's politics. He wouldn't have it. He needed to die....he needed  to die....[color=2F4F4F][i]he needed to-[/i][/color]

[color=5F9EA0]Dremmick, NO![/color]

Dremmick stopped walking as he heard the voice inside and his arm shot up with a clenched fist, breathing heavy, dripping blood from all sorts of places. All the sudden the barrage stopped, with one spear lined up directly between Lucious's eyes, only inches away. 

[color=A52A2A]"The elixir.....stays.....with  her...for everyone."[/color] he said raggedly. Any of the spears that made contact faded into mist and back to Dremmick, save for the one in Lucious's face.

	Aeden did not feel the need to wait for a response from the crowd. The savagery he expected from a blood mage appeared in the maddened expression of the blood mage before him. Aeden pulled his blade from its sheath and started to step forward to intervene before a killing blow could be struck. Even so caution was greatly called for. A feral blood mage was a threat even when pushed to their limit.

Then he saw something that amazed him. The blood mage stopped his killing blow. The words he heard from the ragged breaths of the man caught Aeden slightly off guard. A blood mage acting for the good of everyone? This was certainly an interesting twist. He would have to keep watch of this man and see if over time there are any ulterior motives, but he doubt that anyone could be dishonest in such an exhausted state.

The victor of the duel was clear. Aeden sheathed his blade once more as he scanned the blood mage carefully in an attempt to read his body language. Aeden had stepped out into the open space enough that he definitely had garnered some attention, and he would definitely have to commit to an action toward the pair before him. The idea of standing with a blood mage personally disgusted him, however something about the noble made the idea bearable.

Aeden took a deep breath and stood next to the blood mage facing the noble. [color=ffd700]”Whatever your aim is I doubt you want to degrade yourself by continuing this.”[/color]

	Lucius was not often wounded. But when he was he found it curious. Studying his reaction as he failed to cut all of the arrows. Having to perform a roll to avoid a few, only to be struck in the top right shoulder and in his sword arm. He grimaced as his pale skin began to flush. He pulled the arrow out of his right arm, his biceps leaking with blood. Though he was prepared to reactivate his defenses he took notice of how it was too late. He thought this as he looked at the spear Dremmick was holding to him. A clear seraphim stepped to his side. But as it approached the knights Lucius had under his command stepped forward with blades half drawn. [i]Stop[/i] Lucius commanded telepathically to his knights. He was knelt from the pain of removing his own arrow. But the wound began to heal as plants beneath his armor emerged from the ends. Healing herbs and lots of them. "It seems this one has many friends in the Aion. Perhaps I was wrong about this.. corpse of a man." Lucius learned amongst many things that in combat there were words unspoken. Though as a telepath he could hear utterings from his foes mind.

Rising to his feet the Vrondian royal watched as Dremmick was only moments away from falling apart. He would simply wait until he collapsed from depleted aura and lock him in a cell. But he found new motivation. "If you Aion can keep this creature in check. Then perhaps I will allow this expedition to carry on with that elixir. However..." Lucius searched the crowd for Amaiah and pointed her out. "You will return to Vrondi and make more of this elixir. It's far too dangerous here." He ordered. She looked at him wide eyed under her glasses. "I suppose I can do that. It is my home after all." She placed a finger to her lips in thought. "But my things are all here." Lucius sighed. His wounds healed he approached the Taxis HQs doors. "I'll have a team of strong Gaians ready by tomorrow to bring your necessaries." With that said him and his Knights began to walk back into the HQ.