[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/a7lPKeA.png[/img][/center] [b]Event:[/b] Defense of Relouse [b]Location:[/b] The Witchwood Those trees were tall, but still this did not feel like the kind of forest he'd liked to live in even without a horde of Eskandr strolling within their boundaries. Too close to the shoreline where storms and floods could come in and too close to a vast city that could spew out a significant stream of 'visitors' in the morning only to consume it in the evening and regurgigate it the next morning again. In short: No place to have one's peace. Still, the primary reason for Otios to haul his large figure onto Sakar and guide his horse towards the Witchwood's edge the fastest he could still were the Eskandr. The tree was perfect as a hideout, but it really didn't take a genius to realize that it also was a death trap once surrounded by the enemy. His hands hurt a little from the very quick descent along the wire and wrapping it up again in a hurry, but his mind was focused on very different things right now: Where to set up a new, effective trap in what unknown, but most likely small amount of time he had left ? One had to alter methods from time to time or otherwise the enemy would learn to adapt! That was when he heard the call. A signal clearly asking for immediate assistance. But why ? It was only moments later when he saw it: A golden figure moving at a disturbing speed. He decides to go for something travelling even faster: a lightning bold aimed directly at Horik! However, albeit the bolt itself technically travelled at speeds well beyond the realm of anything a large object of matter could achieve, it still was something needing preparation and aim. Otios could see his enemy throw himself to the side in what looked like a basic and desperate, but somewhat successful dodge. The man even had time to respond to.... goat jokes ? Or were Horik's words just a means of distraction from his real response, a string wave of force magic hurtling towards the two Yasoi. Otios could hardly see what his female comrade was doing about it, but he himself jumped out of the saddle and threw himself down into the tall grass in order to make a much less exposed target out of himself. Sakar raced off and left Otios behind a bit sore from both the jump and what bit of the shockwave had still hit him. The Yasoi notices that something seems a bit off. Almost as if... being drunk ? But that can't be! He had jumped off horses before and this ground was not the hardest one, so why should his head mess up after this fall now ? The only conclusion left possible is that their common foe was actually even more dangerous than he just looks and moves around like, so he decides to shout out towards Lyen to give her a warning, even if that would betray his position. He could her her doing some stuff from higher up in the nearby trees and shakes his head, trying to figure out the rapidly developing situation. Otios could see their enemy higher up on the tree now, too, and albeit it makes his Yasoi heart hurt a little bit, he decides to use the big plant as a means of generating more projectiles. He gives the tree an electric blast in an attempt to either hit Horik directly, hit some wood that will shatter and hit him, or maybe cut down the whole tree while Horik is on top of it. Yet he found his electric energy rerouted into a nearby branch, leaving much less to do any actual damage. Given the sound of branches cracking and leaves being brushed aside it seemed that the long haired Eskandr had decided that two Yasoi were just a bit too much for him. Excellent! However, just as Otios' face had reshaped itself into an impish smile unintentionally, his mind got all reason to revert that kind of action immediately. The shape Horik pretty much bumped into in his flight was just quite a tad too imposing and dangerous looking to do otherwise. That... was not a guy on the Parrench side of things, right ? And Lyen was heading directly towards him in her attempt to finish off the other man. He saw the chaos unfolding, Lyen in grave danger, and didn't want to believe his eyes: Why did this unidentified monstrosity of a man have to show up ? Yet running away was not really an option, was it ? So, trying to both hurt and help at the same time, Otios used his magic to magnetize the metallic parts of Horik's equipment. The man wanted flight and speed ? That's what he shall have! Getting sucked in right towards and preferably into the hulking beast named Kol. However it seemed that Horik was capable of the art of rerouting indeed, this time doing it to himself instead of another lightning bold. Destination: Otios! Close to panic, the Yasoi raised his two silver staffs and induces some high voltage into them, trying to put up both a mechanical blockade and a stimulating surprise. It worked, at least sufficently to apparently hurt Horik and save his own body from significant injury. It seemed it didn't bother Horik much either as he went immediately after Lyen again, leaving Otios ready as a target for Kol who now jumped at him in a quite obvious attempt to just crush the Yasoi to death. Little did the hulking Eskandr seem to understand of what he couldn't see: the invisible workings of electricity and magnetism and them mutually influencing each other. A quickly erected, strong magnetic field induced eddy currents to dissipate Kol's kinetic energy and it worked, converting his own attacking potential essentially into potential for discomfort by means of his armor heating up. Otios practically didn't know just what was... coming out of Kol's mouth ? He just instantly knew it looked dangerous! The only humble chance he saw in order to evade what Kol called the 'Rage of Wyverns' was to do a somersault out of harms way. At this point he was deep enough in shock to even miss the opportunity to think about impending death. He felt like remote controlled by another part of his mind he couldn't influence, the one that was driven by just one directive: survival. Hair did not count as an essential for survival however it seemed, at least his mind didn't care about it burning away and filling his nose with the ghastly smell. Why was he even noticing that anymore ? Only when craning his neck to lift his eyes out of the dirt he saw the sudden storm of unknown origin blowing away enough of the fiery harm to save his skin. The good point ? He was still alive! The bad point ? His hair looked fairly... gone. Just gone. Not so much the ugly smell of it having been burned however. Oh how Otios hated this! As far as he could see now Lady Talit herself was engaging Kol with a devastating looking attack. Had she also caused the storm that had just saved his life ? Quite likely. The attack was apparently enough to trigger the hulking beast named Kol to call for Horik's assistance, so he needed to assist Lady Talit! Otios moved his hands, weaved a stream of ionized gas -- commony called plasma --, and erected sort of a magnetic containment around it he'd use to both stabilize and move the superheated, electrified projectile on its way towards damned Horik. Alone... it failed again! Horik, busy skulking after the injured Lyen, was rudely interrupted by Otios' deadly spear of plasma shooting for his head. Tearing a tree trunk from the ground, he whipped it into the way of the projectile and it fairly exploded into blackened splinters, showering the area. Looking to immediately take advantage, he followed Kol's directive and hurled these at Lady Talit. The woman's response was so powerful and violent that it knocked Otios right off his feet and down into the dirt again before he had any chance to react. He really needed to talk about manners later on! That was... assuming they'd both survive the battle, of course. It really wasn't looking good and at this point Otios had lost any idea about where Lyen was and what she was doing... Otios was on the ground and had no intention of making himself a larger target again by raising to his full height. Instead, he remembered something he had almost forgotten about: Sakar, his horse! Was it still around ? He let go of a whistle, hoping that the animal hadn't fled the scene already and would dare to come just a bit closer so he wouldn't have to crawl over the muddy, overgrown ground for so long. At least he could also hope to be more sneaky this way, right until he'd -- hopefully --, encounter his horse and could mount it. A charge right at Horik it was, and just to make it faster Otios did what he otherwise really didn't like to do and gave his mount a gentle prod by means of his silver staff, including some electric stimulus. What was he even doing ? Desperation ? Probably, yes. There was no other means to really justify it. Trample the man, hoping he was occupied with other things, since everything else didn't work out. The sound of flesh being torn and bones being cracked beneath the weight of horse and rider was awful to hear, but Otios had too much adrenaline to even feel the kind of remorse of have second thoughts about his actions like he had up in the tree. Did every ordinary soldier feel that way ? Probably. And if that was the case, war had to be an even more cruel thing than he had imagined so far. Hordes of people too enraged and blindfolded by their own system to just calm down again, thereby rendered to be even more obedient servants to whomever was interested in the bloodshed. On his turn around, Otios sees Horik badly injured on the ground. Another pass with the horse would definitely finish him off, but Otios couldn't really believe that this daredevil approach had actually succeeded and did believe in less so in it succeeding a second time. Not with Kol and Talit around who were doing their best to turn the whole area into a hostile environment of their own. So, instead, he sent another lightning strike flying. A direct hit that fried whatever part of Horik's nervous system was still functional. And then the one thing he had not expected: A giant explosion! [hider]Summary: - Otios survives, albeit somewhat hurt - Horik joins the Visitor's table with one hell of a bang[/hider]