[@Valkon] [quote]Figuring that the wood that bent and curved to form the ent’s limbs was probably less resilient than that which the torso was made of, Rezello set to work circling the faltering foe, hacking away with his pollaxe at the scorched tree-flesh that formed its legs.[/quote] Already under significant tension, the roots severed with satisfying snaps, and the deed ruffled bits of burning ashes and fire into the air, touching Rezello's mask and armor. The treents were still on fire, and this particular one tried his last chance to offer resistance by swinging its massive limb to swat the hacking knight, which the knight could easily evade. Dagel's orange, astral jaw was still holding it, limiting its movement severely and keeping it kneeled, and Fia used this opportunity to construct another spell. A condensed ball formed in front of her, and let loose soon after. [quote]Fia held out her arm again, her fingers spread. Magical energy trailed from the chromatic heart floating silently by Fia’s right shoulder. It snaked around her arm and started to condense near the palm of her hand. As the energy gathered, the temperature rose locally around her. The bead of energy grew brighter. White hot energy forming a bullet, outlined by wisps of red, orange and yellow as oxygen was consumed. Then all at once, the bead of fire flew forward, at a speed comparable to loosing of an arrow or releasing a crossbow. [/quote] [@Randomness] The elven ranger knew all kinds of fire magic and thrived around its heat she could tell the difference between each spell and ordinary fire just by sensing the heat, but the heat of this one drew her attention. The way it was concentrated, was more or less similar to her own arrow enchantment, but this one did not need any medium. The process was impressive, to say the least, and the result was not disappointing. Not at all. The fire bead made a cavernous hole in the front ent's shoulder and exited on its lumbar, hitting the second ent but with less destructive force. It burnt itself out upon making a significant hole in the second ent's torso, yet wasn't enough to finish it. It wasn't so lucky to be put out of misery as quickly as the first ent, which now shriveled as it tried to root its remaining leg back to the earth like a desperate fossorial animal. The fire was still burning it, and it let out a loud mixture of moan and creaking sounds before its elongated limbs fell off its body, and another loud cracking sounded as the body itself split, broken apart into several burning pieces that would soon be consumed by the fire, leaving only ashes, and a rounded emerald that glitters under the starry sky. ___ The ranger drew her bow again and enchanted her arrow after mentally warning herself that she was very near to knocking herself out by sheer exhaustion. She would loosen her rigid discipline this time, just this time. Why, because it seemed whoever these hirelings were, they were pretty capable. That alone meant she could afford to be more relaxed... right? The arrow was released, striking the last Ent that had just recovered from the sorceress's stray magic. It shattered its head, giving the creature no chance to retaliate or escape before it fell to the ground like any giant being would, ultimately perishing. __ Vesemir uttered a spell and the shield shrunk. For a moment, the old elf looked around, eyes fixed on the sky. And then With a smile on his face, he approached the battlefield, stopped near Verdant, patted her head, and laughed. "Ha-ha-ha! Very thrilling, yes? Reminds me of expeditions in Nehset eons ago!" His posture and sudden joviality sounded like mockery to the Forces of the Land that we all have subdued handily. He then sounded a whistle and asked everyone to gather around and follow, while he proceeded to the corner of the road where a pack mule had been hiding. Considering what happened to the horses earlier, this one was uncannily fortunate. "Well done! Well done!" He said as he guided the beast back to the road. The grizzled mercenary named Stepan helped him unload several pouches from a box slung on the side of that beastburden, and Vesemir distributed the leather pouches to everyone. You opened it and found that it contained no less than 150 gold coins. [b]"Here here here! Your payment! In Varenheim, they have a saying: pay your worker before their sweat dry!" [/b] The elven mercenary could only watch in silence, and Stepan too wasn't as thrilled as their boss. "[b]But, boss, what about the carriage?" [/b] "Goodness gracious, you are right! A prayer to our poor coachman---" [b]"I mean--- yeah, whatever you say boss..." [/b] ____ The elven ranger approached the still-burning ent and slung her bow, placing her hand nearer to the fire and feeling the warmth recharge her body. Wasn't it ironic that the element that caused the demise of her enemy was also nourishing her? In that regard, there wasn't much difference between her and those devourers. The ranger sighed; deep down, she had slowly made peace with the morbidity of her situation. When she was deep in her own thoughts, the elven mercenary had already stood next to her. "Should I ask Vesemir to move on? Or maybe you need a moment? Not gonna lie, you look like you could have fallen asleep standing." [color=ec008c]"I need a moment,"[/color] answered the ranger, huffing an air to shake drowsiness away. [color=ec008c]"Ten minutes, and then we leave."[/color] ___ Turn ends