[h2]Kalla[/h2]

"I can hope," Sev half whispered to Maeve as the strange man struck the statue with his hoe. Watching the destruction of the statue was awe inspiring, even through the turbulent barrier he'd put up. In his mind he was debating with his escape plan but didn't know if the man was just showing off or about to attack. The shockwave released tore through his barrier as though it didn't exist, and in that instant Sev decided to grab the girl and flee.

His heart almost stopped when he was unable to grab the images of himself and Maeve to displace them with his gift and his gift of air failed to activate the quickening. In an act of desperation he thrust his spear forward, calling forth the most powerful fire magic he knew, only for nothing to happen.

In a moment of panic he felt for the illusion covering his eyes and was unable to feel it. He slowly lifted a hand to his face and spotted the slight gold of his eyes in the reflection of the metal studs that protected his fists. Despite all that happened the warrior mage's mind came to a screeching halt, raw panic threatening to set in due to his secret being exposed along with the appearance of this frighteningly powerful foe. Against a foe this powerful he couldn't run, and without his magic he didn't have a chance in combat. Maeve seemed to think combat was inevitable, but Sev's mind raced for another answer.

This man called him a simple performer of tricks? It sounded like it was meant to be something of an insult, but Sev took it as a compliment. In a moment of desperation Sev drew upon his 'performance' skills, this man wanted a performance, he'd give one. He'd show this man that he didn't need mana to use magic.

"What happened?" Sev asked, squinting his eyes as though trying to see his hand and, as an added bonus, obscuring their new color. He glanced up, squinting hard back and forth as though unable to make out anything, "one moment."

With a quick flick of his hand and muttered meaningless phrases he pretended to try and cast a spell on his eyes only for nothing to happen.

"Oh, I see," the Sylve said softly retaking a combat stance with his spear pointed noticeably to one side from where Bardus stood, facing one of the pieces of the destroyed sculpture that was silhouette on the horizon by the rising sun.

"Clever of you to recognize I'm hard of sight," the magician spoke, trying to control the panic in his voice to moderate success. Thankfully, with this ploy and the situation a little panicked wavering of the voice was expected and could only add to his believably, "I learned light magic to allow me to see and without it I am all but blind. I suppose I should feel honored that one such as you felt the need to take away my very ability to see before fighting me."

"Lady Maeve?" Sev said, turning his head enough so he could glance around towards where the Isoli was, struggling to find her, "don't worry about me, I may be nearly blind without my magic but I can still fight."

He turned to look back at the lump of stone tightening his grip on his spear staff.

"Though it might be prudent for you to run," he admitted in a softer voice, "I'm uncertain how much of a distraction I can be in this state but I know I can't flee."