[color=lightgray] Wasting no time, Namsterra flexed their grip, and the glowing shields reacted to her magic. But something was wrong… They were solid steel, there should’ve been no hesitation, but her lightning magic was sluggish, they flew slowly as if thrown by a mundane individual. Namsterra didn’t understand why, but Shirik’s ball of fire had disrupted the magnetic attraction of the metal, softening it and allowing every particle of steel to lose alignment. One of the shields curved into the ground, and the other whistled past Shirik’s left shoulder, engulfed by the inferno behind them. Salaketh slammed his halberd into the dirt, and Dra’Kell shot forth, carried along by a trail of frost. They withdrew a sword in the half-second of time spent closing the distance to Shirik, before Salaketh’s magic sharply redirected him towards Shirik’s left. They received a blisteringly quick slice to the chest, which erupted in cerulean blue sparks. [i][color=red]Hold your fire.[/color][/i] Shirik was thrown off guard in an instant, but responded by swinging their staff in Dra’Kell’s direction. He came to a screeching halt thanks to Salaketh, but his armor suddenly wailed and hissed as it was overtaken by subzero cold. Steam exploded outwards, and Shirik ran towards Namsterra, who had withdrawn a pair of rods several inches longer than a dagger. [i][color=green]They use a channeling object like Salaketh,[/color][/i] Duuli observed. Namsterra crossed the rods, and swung them outwards. Lightning arced outwards in a curve, connecting them at the ends. One left her hand and swung overhead as if tethered by a rope. She swung it at Shirik like a whip, who ducked under it and aimed a jab at her in the chest with their staff. A fireball erupted at the point of contact, intended to liquify Namsterra’s center mass. But the metal rod came back around, landing solidly against Shirik’s face with the force of heavy iron. The fireball flickered out, and Shirik crumpled to the ground. Namsterra kept up the pressure, and swung her weapon upwards against their face, knocking them over completely. [i][color=red]Now.[/color][/i] Duuli fired her crossbow, aiming the shot at Shirik’s shoulder to pierce their core. A sharp [i]snap[/i] filled the air as the bolt made contact with their bark, only to be reduced to ash in an explosion of blue fire that spewed out of the wound. Bits of ruined bark sprayed out, and Shirik let off a burst of flame. They leapt up to their feet faster than Namsterra had expected, and swung the staff at her face like a hammer. Namsterra barely ducked, and Shirik swung again. She threw her body to one side, and the staff hit the ground, causing a circle of light to appear. Seeing this, Namsterra swung her lightning rods at them once again, but Shirik set their arm ablaze, and blocked it. Something cracked, and Shirik could hear brittle bark crunching under the weight, but flecks of molten metal fell to the ground. Salaketh had not moved once yet. He kept one eye on the open sky above. Bright markings were appearing like constellations, growing more elaborate by the second. If the stories were true, then this being was a genuine match for his squad. He made a motion with his left hand, and held his halberd overhead. Duuli readied another bolt. [i][color=red]Hold.[/color][/i] Shirik swung their staff upwards, carrying the ring of glowing blue light with it, and Dra’Kell appeared again with thin trails of steam following behind him. The ground crackled as ice formed across it, and Shirik’s left eye was gouged open, knocking them clean off their feet. Their circle flew off into the burning trees, and exploded. [i][color=yellow]Detaining![/color][/i] Dra’Kell put a hand out in Shirik’s direction and stomped his left foot. Fog erupted in a circle around Shirik’s stunned body. It crept inwards, and once it made physical contact with their bark, they felt pain for the first time in centuries. It was not quite like burning, but more as if the very life was being ripped from their soul. The pain was withering, [i]gnawing[/i] at them. They felt the will to stand and fight slip away to the cold of all possible things. Shirik clawed at the dirt, clinging to the ground as if there were answers beneath the soil. Everything was going numb, but maybe there was still a chance. Their grip on the staff finally relaxed, they were going numb. But still, they scratched at the dirt for [i]something.[/i] Dra’Kell’s goal was to let the temperature do the work, but most people simply gave out immediately. Most people weren’t made of fire like Shirik. So Dra’Kell kept at it, while Namsterra pulled back towards Salaketh’s direction. [i][color=green]What are they doing to the sky?[/color][/i] Duuli asked. [i][color=red]Old legends tell of an Iriad, so in harmony with the element of fire that their methods of spell casting exceed anything we have ever known,[/color][/i] Salaketh answered. He tilted his halberd downwards. [i][color=red]They are powerful, but they are outmatched.[/color][/i] Frost crept up across Shirik’s bark. Dra’Kell’s magic was [i]merciless.[/i] They couldn’t win like this, but if they could just reach their staff… Shirik felt heavy, as if they were holding the weight of every star in the night sky. It showed in the patterns that began to flicker in and out of view overhead. Dra’Kell was blowing air on a fragile candle. [i]You have walked the throne rooms of gods unnamed. You have seen the birth of universes. You are creation incarnate.mYou will not die here, not before you avenge your son.[/i] The flames diminished. Shirik’s brittle, mortal shell darkened until there were only thick trails of smoke. The last embers had escaped from sight. The constellations of fire continued to flicker, and the forest was doomed to burn away even after Shirik had stopped moving. Dra’Kell stopped his spell, and nudged Shirik with their sword. Nothing. The fog began to fade away, slowly. Duuli closed in with her crossbow, keeping it aimed at the mage’s core. Salaketh still refused to move a single step, even as Namsterra raised her rods to strike them down again [i][color=green]My tremorsense tells me they are unresponsive.[/color][/i] Tural flew in, landing on Dra’Kell’s shoulders as a bird. [i][color=silver]It is a shame,[/color][/i] Tural thought. [i][color=silver]They could've taught the world so much. Their physiology fascinates me.[/color][/i] [i][color=red]We will bring the body, then. Dra’Kell.[/color][/i] [i][color=yellow]On it.[/color][/i] Dra’Kell reached down to lift the Iriad’s body, when he felt something move. Their hand had shot outwards towards their staff, clutching it like the cold grasp of death. Duuli didn’t hesitate. She shot the hand right through the wrist. The bolt stuck, but the staff was not dropped. Namsterra and Dra’Kell raised their weapons to swing, but the night sky had become day, faster than they could attack. Blue fire exploded back outwards, filling Shirik’s hollow body again. Shirik’s face turned and faced the murderers as thunder cracked across the sky. A pillar of blue light fell from above, burning away the remains of the trees around them. engulfing Shirik, and all of the Inquisitors. All of them except for Salaketh, who simply pointed his halberd in the direction of his squad. [h1][color=0831ff][b][i]”DIE!!!”[/i][/b][/color][/h1] [center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/hzWSZBl9zGKBkjcRbuA8svnXvaiQJSRAa2ZKSe3bkCY/https/fontmeme.com/permalink/230828/3480d2b7c759790f845d4698af0e4cd3.png[/img][/center] [hr] Shirik managed to find stability on their feet, and watched as Eva’s mechanical suit tumbled off the bridge. They could feel the weight of the bridge beginning to give out beneath everyone’s feet. The arms were rocky, perhaps a Stone or Force mage was behind this? There were many things the world had yet to fathom, and the arrival of these “humans” was but a raindrop in a storm of unknowns. These mimic beasts would kill them all if they didn’t get out ahead of this, and gravity would drown them all if they didn’t get out ahead of the [i]bridge.[/i] Shirk was not a fool. They were far removed from the troubles of the world, more versed in its lore than the wisest scholars, and knew when to be humble before anything else. They could win this fight, but not from a crumbling battlefield. [color=d68300]”We must move, jump from piece to piece if you must, but the bridge will collapse soon!”[/color] They shouted, just in time to see the vague shapes moving on the horizon. It could have been reinforcements from the Ascendancy. It could have been bandits. It could have been the instigators of this nonsense. Anything was possible right now, including their demise. Shirik made a circular motion with their staff, forming a sphere of burning hot flame inside the circle. They waiting for one of the stone arms to lift up, before thrusting the sphere towards it, firing out a stream of withering heat to melt the damned thing from stone to a puddle on the spot. They could do this all day, but time was running out. Shirik didn’t even bother to see if the arm would reshape like the mimic beasts, before running to the furthest end of the bridge. [color=d68300]”All of you, move! NOW!”[/color] Shirik kept one eye to the trees where they saw the shapes moving. If anything stepped out with a weapon, or a tendril of black liquid, they’d blast it back into oblivion [color=d68300]”Silbermine! Now would be the opportunity to reveal any mages in your warband!”[/color] Shirik leapt, and an explosion of heat forced downwards carried them from one piece of the tattered bridge to another. They landed, and performed the spell again to just barely make it across the remains and onto the side with the mysterious figures. Doing this too much was risky, but Shirik could manage. They twisted one foot roughly ninety degrees outwards, and raised their staff overhead. Fog formed in thick trails along the ground, followed by ice. Shirik’s body began to glow faintly as they absorbed ambient heat to regain the lost strength. A small thing in the grand scheme of the situation, but they wanted to be ready. [color=ff9a4f]”Reveal yourself!”[/color] [/color]