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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 16, 2015 7:25:09 GMT -6
Wonderful.
Nayru struggled to come up with an immediate and brilliant solution to the situation while fending off both gargoyles, but nothing came to mind immediately; she was simply not fast enough to make it to Remus in time, and even if she was, she'd probably just get skewered by one of the closer monsters before she even got there - the instant she turned her back in fact. It was frustrating - no, that was an understatement, one that belied how much it bothered her. It was enraging that after all this, she had no way to help him, that all her bravado and derring-do and promises had accounted for a grand total of nothing now that push came to shove.
And yet her mind refused to sink completely into resignation - it never had, for better or for worse, there was always a sliver of hope, or perhaps naivete, she could never tell the difference. The poisonous idea that there had to be something she could do, that somehow one dumbass teenage(ish) dragon could solve all the world's problems and take responsibility for all of its woes. That somehow, even though she could admit to herself that she wasn't particularly smart or wise or brave or brilliant or strong or fast or tough, she could be an invincible sage that could solve all of everyone's problems and cure generations-old feuds and change how the world itself worked. That all she had to do, even now, was think - find the correct answer - and she and Remus would walk out of this completely unscathed.
It was stupid and immature, and even she knew it, but even knowing that availed her nothing when she could not deny that part of herself. And it WAS frustrating, dammit, to have your heart and your brain going in different directions, each turning up its nose at the foolhardiness of the other while blissfully blind to its own boorishness.
Of course - the answer was simple. She knew the answer, had known it since before she even started wondering it. Nayru wasn't sure if she had known it consciously since the start or if it had only come to mind more recently, but it was nothing new nonetheless. The problem was more in the consequences, both for Remus and for herself. Even if everything went perfectly, he would be a very dangerous move liable to blow her cover as a human being, and that was to completely ignore all the other possibilities she could think of. She was more likely to miss, or accidentally blow Remus away, or just get impaled the moment she turned her back on her current opponents; Nayru knew better than anyone that her reinforcement was fleeting, limited; no matter how strong it might be, she couldn't really keep it up and pull off much of a power play simultaneously.
...But the answer to that, too, she already knew.
Nayru spun the kama in her right hand, raising it in a ready stance as she faced the gargoyles surrounding her, trying to prepare herself for what she must do. Man... even the best-case scenario of all this was gonna suck to deal with. The demihuman monster smiled wryly at the thought as she took a deep breath, as much to steel her own nerves as for any ulterior reasons - and then she was out of time and everything happened at once.
"...Sorry," she mumbled, as much to Veigue as to Remus.
Light and sound erupted from her blade, a blinding flash of electricity that followed the curved blade as it arced around her, clearing out the immediate vicinity as both gargoyles were forced to momentarily retreat, but rather than push her advantage she paused, the moment of space and time she'd needed gained just in time to loose a far larger and brighter lance of golden light from her mouth, her experimental breath attack in human form as tested on many unfortunate trees and unassuming shrubs in Sacae as she struggled to master it. But she wasn't aiming at inanimate objects this time, and there was a great deal more power put into this attack than she had tried before - a molten torrent of molten light half a foot across that tore through air and an unfortunate hanging signpost before sawing one of the falling gargoyles in half as leathery flesh boiled and evaporated instantly.
It was only for a moment, the brilliant light evaporating almost as quickly in its own wake as she was sent reeling backwards by the force and intense, mindbending agony consuming her throat in its wake. Human bodies were never meant to channel that much power, much less as direct conduits, and the throat was even less suited to such activities - most of her experimentation and studies so far had been to avoid simply permanently obliterating her own throat in the process, with mixed results. But she had never tried such a concentrated beam, and the results were... well, less than pleasant.
Neither was the lance that came slamming into her back a moment later, the essence suffusing her body temporarily having been rediverted from armoring to her attack, but she had expected that too - the jolt was more a reminder of the most immediate consequence to ignoring her closest opponents than an unwelcome surprise.
The fact that it slammed into her rather than going through her was, though, considering that in that moment she had been essentially entirely human. About as thoroughly confused as her opponent, Nayru stumbled sideways a step or two, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, before realizing the blue glow of magic emanating from her body as it cracked and then shattered into tiny particles around her.
Huh.
She'd kinda forgotten about that thing Remus had done with the barrier.
Feeling more than a little like a tool for assuming it was useless, Nayru tried to make her way towards Remus while fending off the remaining gargoyle as he quickly dispatched of the other, and ran into him midway - literally - if her mind had caught up a little slower her body would already have been midway into spinning in place and decapitating him assuming he was another gargoyle. Her reinforcement was already back up; despite the downsides of it being was ephemeral and reflexive, at least it was very quick to redirect and rebuild that power when she could focus on it.
While her ego was a bit bruised and her throat still sore as hell, she was still more or less in fighting condition, so the embattled dragon just regarded Remus with a lopsided grimace as he asked her what the plan was. Right. She was supposed to have one of those. She didn't, of course, her plan had been 'try not to die horribly,' buuuut the gentle priest didn't need to know that. So... time to take stock of the situation. Still had a couple gargoyles and a much uglier and bigger one alive, she didn't think she could make another breath attack right now without killing herself, and melee attacks really just didn't seem to do much to these guys.
"The plan," she rasped, hesitating to rub her throat for a moment as if that would magically fix everything, "is to have you kill everything while I play bodyguard. Get crackin' with the lightning, magic man."
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Post by Remus on Oct 16, 2015 14:47:11 GMT -6
Remus had just turned to see Nayru. Was it dangerous to take his eyes off the enemy? Absolutely. Was that enemy currently a threat though..? That...was up in the air. Because Nayru had well..generated lightning into her weapons and..ah..yup. She had just fired lightning from her mouth. Though the priest's expression broke into shock, encroaching the territorial lines of disbelief even; he just saw Nayru perform a feat that well..really shouldn't have been possible. Was she some sort of powerful mage? That she could harness and use lightning like that!? Though...if that was true why did she never use it before now? The questions were rampant, but erased from his mind as he saw her body slide backwards into the strike of a gargoyle's spear. He could ask her about this later; for now they had a serious issue to deal with. For once, he was grateful his barrier magic had been able to work. Without draining all of his stamina at that.
The blue haired priest felt a slight tug of tension as Nayru spoke. Her voice. It sounded awful. Then again..would I sound any better if I had shot lightning out of my mouth? It probably hurts. Though..she did have a plan it seemed. It was probably their best hope. Nayru was the most talented fighter he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a fair few good fighters. If anyone have ever made him bet his life on someone...it genuinely would've been Nayru. The priest nodded quietly as the woman stood near him once more. He outstretched one of his hands as light began to blossom from his body, radiating with a growing intensity while he focused inwards. Elimine would serve as his example. Her standard would become his. He would follow in her steps, and let his faith in that paths righteousness be the blade he aimed at those who would do his friends harm. Remus lifted his hand and swept it through the air, firing a volley of intense bright bolts through the air. The bursts of holy magic combusted upon collision with one of the two lesser gargoyles. Though the creature wailed in agony, it and the others began to rush forwards.
Remus focused, trying to tune out the fight as best he could without risking becoming useless; just enough to focus harder. He would place faith in Nayru to protect him while he began to gather more magic to him. Small bolts wouldn't be enough. The light pulsed as the priest drew further power and prepared to strike once more.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 17, 2015 6:52:21 GMT -6
"Good attitude." Her voice was still a bit hoarse, it didn't come out quite as airy and friendly as she had hoped, but at least the intent was clear. Remus wasn't much of a fighter, but he seemed to have found some inner strength, a rock to anchor himself on, and Nayru respected that. She knew from experience that learning to fight could be intimidating, after all - but she had learned its necessity to protect people sometimes, and it seemed Remus was going through a similar process.
So, both in respect for his courage and simple necessity, it fell to her to support him in that venture. She didn't have the firepower to deal with these creatures quickly, at least not with any degree of subtlety, and Remus didn't have the durability to do it on his own. Her face grim, Nayru changed from casual standing to a stance, one arm raising in front of her as she turned half sideways, still facing the creatures; her foreleg raised and then slammed down into the ground in a puff of dust as she centered herself, sinking lower into her chosen martial arts style for the time being.
After all, they were just resistant to physical damage, not immune to it.
She met the largest gargoyle's strike head on, all too aware that just dodging would leave Remus open to attack, and paid the price in the jolt of sheer force as the tremendous piercing power of its thrust ablated across her skin. But it did not break her, nor could it force her back, and the creature retreated from its probing srike with almost perverse grace a moment later.
...Just in time for the next contender to arrive. The second gargoyle came at her almost as fast as the first one, but it was smaller, with less reach - too short to stay out of her own. Nayru weaved around the lance, the side of her body a smaller target than from the front, and stepped into close range in one sinuous movement that went from grace to brutality in a split second as one elbow flickered out, slamming into the creature's chest with enough force to arrest its momentum entirely. But she was already moving again, her free hand and the leading arm both grabbing the creature's lance-wielding arm and forcing them downwards onto her rising knee, the meeting heralded by a sickening crack as bone disintegrated under tremendous force.
WHat would have crippled a lesser opponent barely phased the gargoyle, and to take its left-handed strike she was forced to redirect her attention and force, intercepting it with her shoulder and pushing back to try to force it off balance. Something else that was harder to do here than against a normal opponent. Not that it mattered. The motion continued into a knife hand strike to the side of the creature's neck, the thinnest line of silvery light barely visible as she reinforced the strike to knock the creature back with as much force as possible, hopefully incapacitate it; she didn't really have the luxury of spending as much time as she wanted on each individual opponent when there were three to deal with. Hopefully Remus could capitalize on that, or at least the damnable things would keep coming at her.
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Post by Remus on Oct 17, 2015 18:23:26 GMT -6
This time..he'd do more damage. Remus narrowed his gaze, and made sure to wait. His shots couldn't pack a punch like Nayru, literally, could. However...these creatures had a weakness to holy magic. That much was clear. That, coupled with their almost flawless accuracy and speed gave him ample room to capitalize. The priest channeled the holy magic as best he could. At this point, he was practically generating a beacon of light within his palm as the first of the creatures assailed Nayru. However the strike was swift, and it backed away as quickly as it came. No, this one was not the one he should strike. Not yet, at-least. The next one flew towards Nayru, and she retaliated with far greater efficiency than before. He could see it. The truth in her words earlier. These things were durable, and very resilient to physical damage. Remus lifted his hand as the creature faltered in the wake of Nayru's strike. The air rushed upwards around him, jostling his robes as he refined the excess holy energy with him before expelling a portion of it. Three bolts of burning holy magic soared through the air. Piercing the sky and blasting into the creature, rushing right past Nayru and branding the winged demon with the pure light energies.
Writhing in agony as the bolts seared almost complete holes into the gargoyle, the winged creature flailed before attempting to put distance between its-self and the duo. Remus swung his arm once more, back downwards as if to complete a up-down process. The air flashed once more as projectiles of radiant magic hissed to life before rushing to it. Two punched fist sized holes with ease through the weaker and leathery skin that made the creatures wings. The grey ash like shaded skin was a orange-red blaze before the slight ripping sound could be heard as the holes expanded slightly; all the compact air rushing through the holes as it had attempted to flap its wings ultimately worsening the wound and dooming it to grounded combat. Remus would have smiled, and cheered for his success were it not for the other creatures. No doubt enraged, even if Remus had zero chances of telling what precisely an enraged gargoyle looked like as opposed to a normal one, Remus knew they'd be a threat.
Now the light magic was starting to ebb on him a bit. It lacked power..and at first he had enjoyed the ease to cast as well as speed and accuracy of the magic. However it took far more bolts of holy magic to accumulate significant damage. Even compared to other magics. Though..he was fairly inexperienced at magic in general, and light magic since this was his first time using it. Perhaps his own standards were too high. Perhaps, in the high of the moment, he'd expected to be on par with someone of his sisters status. That..was presumptuous. Arrogant even. Another danger he'd have to work on quelling. Fast.
Remus mustered his wind and began to channel energy again. He smiled for a moment, focusing, but speaking his mind as a thought occurred to him."It seems to me Nayru..that if your lifestyle as a historian does not work out, you'd make a fantastic body guard! A backup plan mayhaps?" What could he say? Even in horrible situations where abominations of darkest taint and sin were trying to kill them, she was easy to talk to.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 18, 2015 2:59:54 GMT -6
Even knowing Remus was supposed to be doing the fire support thing, Nayru still swayed to the side after the first bolt passed her, not quite connecting the attack to Remus before her body was already moving. It wouldn't have dodged the first bolt even if he had been aiming at her, more of a reflexive movement to try to avoid the rest of the volley, but fortunately for her there was no need to do so.
It was immediately obvious in the aftermath of the attack that Remus's attack had been vastly more effective than her own, which was both good and bad; good because quite frankly her little routine wasn't actually doing that much to the damn things, bad because it was a bit of a blow to her self esteem. She could TOTALLY handle these scrubs, it was just, you know, secrecy and subtlety and low power mode and, uh, stuff. It was a stupid and petty thing to be frustrated over, and even she was mature enough to recognize it, but knowing the truth and accepting it were two very different things, and, well, Nayru hadn't quite gotten around to finishing that 'maturity' thing.
Still - for the time being, she did need him. Simple melee strikes clearly didn't do much against gargoyles, and her experimental research into fusing magic and martial arts into one fluid style was... incomplete at best. And hey, as her favorite saying went - if it's stupid, but it works, it aint stupid. And Remus's attacks were definitely working, doing more damage in one volley than her full combo had. So at this point she might as well just suck it up and take her role as it came for now, but that didn't mean she couldn't experiment just a bit.
Grim lance spinning in a display of intimidation, the deathgoyle interrupted her thoughts to dive back in, swinging the surprisingly heavy object like a pole for reasons that - made themselves clear very quickly, she realized a moment too late, blocking it with one forearm as the other gargoyle (was it the one Remus had attacked first? she wasn't sure) came barreling at her from chest height. Hum. Rather than hold her ground, Nayru allowed herself to be swept along by the lance, spinning in place as she leveraged its momentum to come around with a roundhouse kick that connected with the unarmed gargoyle's head, something akin to surprise visible on its features for a split second before several hundred pounds of force snapped its head to the side with enough power to rip a human's head off their shoulders before they could blink.
Against the gargoyle, it served as a momentary distraction, the ugly creature sent flailing into and through a wooden wall but still moving when she lost sight of it, and the deathgoyle's lance had already been retracted and was rushing towards her like a ballista bolt by the time she regained her footing.
The second parry was much closer than the first, passing between head head and her upraised left arm in a last-second motion, but before she could grab it to try to counter it had already been retracted. Yeah, this was gonna be a barrel of fun, she could tell. The second strike was easier to avoid, pushed upwards and over her by a short upwards deflection, and the third was hooked under her arm for a moment, but retracted too quickly to capitalize on.
...This was gonna be an annoying fight.
Sinking back into a defensive stance, realizing that blind offense wasn't going to get her anywhere just yet, Nayru resolved herself to waiting for a good opportunity. "Certainly got plenty of experience with that lately," she shot back at Remus in a moment of repose, not frustrated so much as ironic. It wasn't his fault by any means, but it sure did seem like between him, Veigue, and everyone else she kept running into these days, they always needed a favor, and that favor was something else getting punched. By her. She needed to start charging for this crap. "But hey, if you can help me get a shot at this lug-"
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Post by Remus on Oct 18, 2015 11:42:14 GMT -6
Remus wouldn't ignore the satisfaction he felt. Just..being able to protect people was amazing now. Knowing he could help Nayru fight too though? Yes. He felt like he was trapped in the same circle of thought. Exhilaration at this new found talent of his, satisfaction to see it successfully damaging his foes, horror that he enjoyed harming others, and gratefulness that he could be of help. Then it repeated. It was just so..new to him! Everything he was doing, every sensation. Every thought. These were an entirely new experience that had him ensnared in the euphoric sensation that filled him with a high unlike any he'd ever felt.
The priest eased his eyes open from the brief moment of prayer like poise that he'd taken. Remus grinned, admittedly getting a bit more confidence as Nayru mentioned him helping her. Perhaps that had done it. Him helping her. Yeah. That sounded like something he could do. Remus lifted his hand as light burst forth from his body again. At this rate, he half felt like he could make a living as a nightlight for all the children at an orphanage. Oh boy..that..he could only imagine now. ALLLLLLLLLL the comments Amelia would make. The goofy names she'd have for him now. Ah..but he'd sink cross that bridge when he got to it.
He lifted his hand as he focused on the creature. Controlling his breathing all the while to steady himself, he swept his hand downwards before moving it back upwards. As the radiant energy rushed to the focal point at his palm, he discharged it in timed intervals. A small volley of three bolts racing from his palm with a slight declining arc that made the bolts spread a bit the further they flew. His target, the most imposing of the goyles. The deathgoyle. The creature was swift, and that prompted the priest to launch a second volley as he lifted his hands in the inclining motion. This time the bolts would gradually arc upwards as opposed to downwards. The creature was likely to focus on the intense bolts of light racing towards him initially. One thing Remus had thought of, a moment ago when speculating his own illuminating properties from channeling the holy magic. It was harder to notice things when light was closer to you. Outside of that light its self. Sure enough...
As the deathgoyle swept backwards and moved with great agility up to dodge the first round, there was a piercing screech of agony a moment later. Though they had done far less it seemed, than the ones before, these bolts successfully blasted into the creature and singed through its tough leathery hide. The three shots had hit trailing upwards from its lower torso up to just under its neck. The Deathgoyle wailed in agony and spread its wings flailing wildly. Hopefully that would create the opening Nayru could use? However Remus had not forgotten the other one, sweeping his hand and sending a brief volley towards it to at-least split its attention. This was a bit more crucial to him. It'd either focus on Nayru or use her distraction of assailing the larger one to go right for the priest. If he was busy wounding it though...
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 19, 2015 1:41:22 GMT -6
Nayru, for her part, was having a bit less fun with this whole mess than Remus, who she was pretty sure was about to spontaneously combust into particles of sheer happiness and joy and murder lasers. Wasn't sure why though honestly, she assumed it was just him going crazy at the touch of phenomenal cosmic power - mages man, she'd learned long ago it was best to not try to understand them - but hopefully he'd come back to the land of sanity and good and apple pie before he destroyed the world. Anyways, the point was that while he was having the time of his life, she was stuck trying to punch things that were eminently un-punchable, and the thought made her want to, well, punch something. Preferably a gargoyle, which just made things worse really.
Thanks be to the dark gods, her prayers(?) were answered a few moments later in the wake of Remus's grandiose display of holy judgement; even as the deathgoyle was recoiling from the first wave, one of the gargoyles - was it the one she was whacking before? they wouldn't hold still long enough for her to get a good glimpse - was charging dead at Remus, intent on skewering the defenseless priest like an oversized shish kebab. "NO you don't," Nayru grunted, her first word intersecting with her fist as said fist intersected with the creature's head as it tried to pass her, sending it sprawling into another building. Heh. She was gonna have to get out of town before people came to her complaining about gargoyle-sized holes in their walls.
Alright, enough fun. Remus's second barrage was slamming into the deathgoyle again, the singing bolts of light looking mighty painful though not exactly lethal, and the dragon saw the window of opportunity nearing. One foot forward, bent at the knee, the other straight; shoulders forward, hips forward, in mind and will alike facing always forward. Not the most... balanced stance, not her favorite, but she needed power and speed here, not some fancy kung fu bullshit. It took only a moment to decide between Bajiquan and Piguazhang as both hands moved inwards slightly, and by the time the deathgoyle had momentarily fallen near enough to the ground to be within her effective range she was already moving as fast as thought, one fist slamming into the beast's thorax with all the force of an open stance and a dragon's fury behind it, almost skidding into the creature as her burst of acceleration was paused by its body.
Already shocked by Remus's barrage, the creature failed to react in time for the followup strike strike to its right shoulder, again with enough force to dislodge the black lance from its grasp as its body spasmed. And yet - while her strikes were definitely having an effect, it was by no means immune to them, it was also clear that she had neither crushed its chest nor dislocated its shoulder. Was she wrong to have used this style? Should she have tried to fight from midrange instead? Despite the damage it had taken, it was already trying to counterattack, its unscathed arm bearing down on her in a hammer blow - no, she just needed more power, enough to overcome its resistance and tear it asunder.
It was almost academic as her right hand moved up to intercept the creature's left, a diagonal block that shifted into a parry as she tried to unbalance the overextended attack. There. She stepped forwards again, even further into the creature's range, dropping lower into a horse stance as one palm launched upwards to impact the creature's chin and slam its head backwards. Another good strike - good in a martial arts competition, again easily enough to rip a mortal man's head clean off or at least snap his neck, but the beast was already bringing its 'disabled' right arm in to attack, whether to try to grab her or simply crush her spine she couldn't tell in that instant, and for a moment essence followed will as her right hand, still recovering from the block a moment before, flickered towards it.
A momentary hiss, the stench of burning flesh, and the severed arm swung harmlessly past her, molten flesh bubbling where it had been cleanly severed. But the moment was gone, the thread she had barely glimpsed disappearing into the tapestry once again, and it would take time to find it again. Time that she did not have. But she could make a moment for herself, and so she did, both hands coming together as one for a thrusting open-palm strike to the deathgoyle's abdomen to force it back for a moment... and hopefully open it up to a tactical Remus strike.
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Post by Remus on Oct 19, 2015 9:59:53 GMT -6
There was a certain..tension within the air now. A palpable fury of primal nature emanating from the mindless voidsent monstrosities that he and Nayru were battling. One creature had a torn wing, still trying to fight and having a horrible time floundering about on its feet when it barely used them in comparison to the time it had likely spent flying. Then there was the one that Nayru had taken to associating as a personal punching bag. The instances when she engaged it were as much of a "fight" as that one might expect from tender meat at a butcher's stand. The meat was just a bit tough in this regard. Then there was the deathgoyle. The colossal ebony winged monstrosity was proving far more durable than Remus had been willing to believe. At this point...he was wondering if the abomination of a cyclops in the City of Heroes would've been a fairer fight.
Okay..maybe not entirely. It was still a daunting foe. Remus saw Nayru striking to the gargoyle that was full on racing towards him, and felt no small sense of relief. The idea of being impaled just didn't sit well with him. Seizing the opportunity though, the priest lifted his staff upwards. The energy that rushed to the staff was imbued with the same radiant light he had been using before hand. However this time he was using the staff to guide it. A center of focus, using the object like a conduit for the holy magic that began rushing further towards it. His robes wavered from the rush of surging energy around him as he took a more serious note. Nayru was fighting these things off so that he could focus on killing them. If he kept falling into the lull of casually firing a few bolts and enjoying his new found powers she could get hurt. The priest looked to the wounded creature. The smile fading mostly from his face, and his gaze leveling as the creatures gaze met his. It was brief. There was an understanding in that moment. It was going to die. Injured as it was, it had no escape. The priest shifted his staff and pointed it towards the monster, now channeling the lightning tome as best he could focus from the times he'd read it in an hopeless endeavor to learn that magic. Though..the fruits of what he thought hopeless were now shining through.
Light rushed all around the creature. Energy from all around as if the air its-self were turning against the monstrosity. Suddenly a series of bursts raged along its ashen skin, ravaging its body as an otherworldy wail of pain and agony let out. Its body crumpled and collapsed to the ground before the priest shifted and began to mimic the same motion. The essence rushing towards him once more, this time honed in as he shifted his gaze to the deathgoyle. Nayru was bludging and hammering away at it, and in a brief moment its body was left open. Again, light rushed to and around it before crashing inwards and bursting into a series of intense burning blasts. The creature was not dead, but it was seriously injured from the holy magic hitting its entirety.
Remus felt a slight strain now. A tap to his fatigue. This magic was still unfamiliar to him. He'd have to get used to it still.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 19, 2015 11:29:36 GMT -6
Her mind rushed to come up with solutions to the ongoing dilemma, time seeming to slow down around her as she focused on the task at hand. How were they actually going to put this beast down? If she hit it enough times it'd probably stop moving, but that wasn't really a good strategy, not when she was gradually approaching the limits of what she could do without halfshifting more obviously, and Remus was likely reaching the end of his rope in general. She wasn't an expert on magicians, but Nayru didn't think that human mages could keep their elemental barrages up forever, especially those who had just unlocked that ability - in some ways Remus was similar to her, and while it was likely a safe assumption that his offensive magic was much cheaper in terms of mana costs and easier on his body, he'd also been casting a LOT of it, more than most of the more experienced mages she'd seen.
Arcing waves of light streaked through the air around her, Remus's ongoing barrage still providing the cover she needed, and without much choice in the matter Nayru followed it to time her own assault as close as possible to when his ended, even if it meant she was going into a danger close friendly fire zone. She barely even sensed the other gargoyle, trusting Remus to take care of it, and while her rudimentary monster-sensing abilities were exactly that, she didn't have to turn around to get the impression her trust had not been misplaced.
The dragon met her prey with another thorax punch, her approach similar, but with a twisting motion to it this time as it impacted; again designed to splinter bone and crush lungs, and again with little more real impact than a meaty thud and the feeling of punching something almost as hard as her fist. It was frustrating as HELL to fight these damn things; she didn't know much about how they were formed, but suspected that its body, or at least bones, were heavily reinforced with dark magic, possibly even some form of regeneration, to be able to withstand that much punishment.
But it didn't really matter right now. They just had to win. She brought up one knee for a hip strike, still focused on trying to keep the creature off balance. This style relied on constant attacks and opening the oponent up for another each each successive strike; if she gave away the initiative, it would be completely useless until she managed to make another opening... and the same thing wouldn't work twice on a monster of this caliber, she was sure of that. If she couldn't crush it as she was, and Remus didn't have any stronger magic...
Nayru's throat almost ached at the very thought, she had already passed her limits with that last attack trying to save Remus from the ambush, but she truly didn't see any alternative. The simple fact was that the beast was just too durable and too dangerous to rely on simple martial arts or even Remus's magic to deal with - she needed an ace to take it out before it could recover or Sky forbid retake its aerial advantage, or worst of all, escape. Tales told of gargoyles as being vengeful creatures, unique among monsters in that they always returned at the worst possible time to slaughter anyone who fought them off once. Whether those legends were true or not was questionable, but she couldn't stay here to defend the town in case they did; the monstrous creature tearing apart southern Bern was nigh-guaranteed to kill countless people if she and Veigue didn't deal with it as soon as possible.
She was going to regret this in the morning.
Tapping into more and more of her power, she could feel as well as see the white tattoos on her right arm begin to light up and glow brightly as the single design that was normally visible joined a network of arcane sigils rapidly becoming visible along that arm - bordering on an actual physical translation but skirting the edge as she had learned through harsh experience. Still, even if it wasn't quite a full-body halfshift, the burst of strength was undeniable, and she needed it to pull this off.
First came the neck chop - simple, effective, fast. Left handed. Throwing the creature's sense of balance off. The larger strike was a split second later, a short right punch to the monster's temple that snapped its head back like a punching bag. She didn't know if they had brains, but if so it was gonna have a hell of a headache. But she was already moving, twirling 360 degrees to build up momentum, dropping lower to augment the coming attack - and as she completed that rotation she struck, the golden arm lashing upwards into the creature's chin as its head snapped back into place, a burning corona of golden light almost blinding for a moment as a great deal of essence turned it from a simple punch into a launch that shot the creature airborne like it had been launched from a catapult.
"Remus!" Despite the scratch her in her voice, the audible sense of a rasp that didn't sound especially healthy, she raised her voice loud enough to be clearly audible regardless of the distance between them. "...Keep it busy." She didn't have the time to reveal a fantastically complex strategy, or the breath to manage it even if she did, already inhaling as she tried to steel her chest against the all too familiar burn of fiery essence consuming her senses and nerve endings alike. Nayru was betting everything on this attack; if Remus couldn't keep up his assault long enough for her to charge up, or the creature managed to recover fast enough, she had nothing left. Her breath was powerful, sure, but it was also hell to aim and almost completely immobile to do much with once it started. A normal dragon could just turn their head and the breath attack would follow; hers paid a great deal in utility and versatility in return for raw power, and while sometimes it was a blessing, more often than not it was a curse.
One chance. That was all they got. But it was too late to worry about whether or not she had made the right call or if they could have done things differently. For now, she had to place all her trust in Remus to manage his part in this plan, to understand what she had tried to convey without being able to explain it, and purge this evil from the world in one fell strike.
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Post by Remus on Oct 19, 2015 12:54:25 GMT -6
The priest was tired sure..but he wasn't out of the game yet. As the two remaining winged monsters attempted to retaliate for the act of killing one of their own, Remus watched Nayru set herself to work. Honestly, he still found it hard to believe people could move like that. It was very...inspiring. How quickly she could land a blow, and with her glowing with the faint pulsing light it certainly emphasized each attack an- she was glowing. Nayru was glowing. That wasn't something people did normally right? Sure..mages could emanate the magical energies from their body as they gathered it for magic. He himself was like a walking light show. That took concentration though. She was just...beating the ever-living soul out of a powerful dangerous monster and glowing with pulsating energy.
Perhaps he would have dwelt on it further, if he hadn't noticed the shift in the lesser gargoyle. As Nayru shifted her focus onto the larger one, the smaller one was swiftly flying towards her from the back side. As much as they both no doubt wanted to believe she was indestructible; no one was. Remus lifted his hand as a trail of light flashed to life. His hand rotated and he drew the energy to his finger tips before casting a small burst of bolts towards the creature. Its wings suffered the same fate as the gargoyle before it, before it fell screaming to the ground behind Nayru. Gripping its spear tightly, the monster rose with mortifying anger in its eyes. Remus however, did not back down, nor would he waver. Cowering was not an option here. He tapped his staff on the ground and began channeling more light into it. He focused on the gem to continue using it like a nexus of magical energy. The gargoyle flew hissing towards him, and he lifted his staff to point the tip at the creature.
Energy rushed towards it from every direction as a bright series of rippling flashes burst out. The monster wailed in agony and began to writhe as its skin blistered and burst from the incinerating force of the holy magic. Remus held the spell, a moment or two longer as faster and more intense bursts blasted into the creature before it began to slouch. Canceling the magic, Remus looked to the ground as it fell there limp. He gave it a light tap with the butt of his staff to ensure it wouldn't spring up all angry like.
Nope. It just kinda..bopped back down. Suddenly he heard Nayru. " Remus! "
He turned to see her still glowing like ever, and unloading on the deathgoyle so hard she'd launched it into the air in a way that it didn't initially have control. Remus was quick to begin gathering energy, even before her plan. He steeled himself. It was starting to drain..but he couldn't relent! He couldn't! Nayru had wanted him to hold this creature in place. He couldn't bind it...but he'd do his damndest! Remus began to gather as much energy as he could muster, eyes glued to the creature. Until the last possible second when it attempted to recover. Light exploded from the priest as he lifted his staff and began firing a barrage of small bolts of light. It was less a burst of larger bolts, and more a stream of thinner ones. Each impact did more harm given the monsters weakness to the holy magic, and he kept up the constant barrage with every ounce he could muster. The light radiating from the priest and energy were like a small constant gale; the creature recoiling and flailing as the blasts of energy slowly forced it further skywards. He didn't know how long he could hold it. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. It didn't matter. He'd hold it up for as long as he could!
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 20, 2015 4:05:48 GMT -6
Do or die time.
Nayru couldn't help but grimace a little at the thought of going through this whole song and dance routine again, but dropped her combat stance and shifted most of her attention to starting to gather essence once more, staring up at the sky and the ascending deathgoyle within it as she locked herself into place. Shooting mouth lasers wasn't exactly martial arts, but there were similarities in the power and utility of positioning, of stance, especially when one was trying to channel a great deal more power than they were used to.
Don't think about what happens if you fail. Don't think about what you're about to do to your own body. She repeated the words to herself as though they were gospel, emptying her mind of spare thoughts; there was only her focus, the knowledge of what she must be, and the fire running through her veins as she carefully molded the mass of energy growing within her into a separate entity - a tool rather than a part of her.
First comes destruction.
A shaky breath, ragged and raw. I bring forth nothing. There was no need to vocalize the mantra, but it was her guiding light, the one thing she could focus on to overcome the rising heat as her lungs burned with raging essence. I bless nothing. There was nothing holy about her power, none of the warm light and beauty of Remus's holy magic or the false saint's teachings. I save nothing. She couldn't cast barriers or heal the innocent. There was only destruction, and while she had reviled it for a long time... sometimes that was what was needed. Nayu could feel the golden essence raging within her, the heat as oppressive as the pain, but continued nonetheless. They were well beyond the point of backing down now anyways.
I just erase.
Completely.
The stream of light erupted from within her like the light of dawn, a crackling stream of light whose screeching roar was as loud as it was bright; a hammer of godly thunder that rose to the heavens in one pulsating torrent that cut through air and flesh as if they were one and the same. Not that she could see or hear much of anything else, the light in her eyes and the whipping wind in her ears until the ray cut off abruptly and she stood immobile for a moment, like a pillar of salt.
Then, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, she dropped to her knees without any attempt to slow her motion or stick the landing. What had been ignoreable in the moment was unbearable now, the fresh air in scathing her ravaged lungs as if it was a fire hotter than anything she had ever breathed, and it took what willpower she had left to try to retain some semblance of control over her body and not cry out in agony. She didn't know if she'd even hit the creature, her eyes glazed over from the intensity of the light she had witnessed point-blank and senses completely overloaded in its wake, but it sure would be nice if that had all gone as planned.
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Post by Remus on Oct 20, 2015 8:20:04 GMT -6
Remus felt tired. Not un-imaginably so, but he was definitely beginning to notice it. His eyes were stinging slightly, from remaining open despite the rather obnoxious intensity of the holy magic as he sustained the barrage of light blasts. Several were being launched simultaneously in constant relentless waves that hailed upwards into the flailing anguished Deathgoyle. Remus felt the slightest strain on having to maintain the staff upwards, but he couldn't waver in that regard. He was relying on it as a central focus to his spell, and wasn't sure he could keep pumping out the damage that he wished to otherwise. The damage had been starting to show on the Deathgoyle as well. Holes had been singed into its wings, tens of small orange circles barely visible through the barrage of flashing lights. Though otherwise one could see through the smoldering wounds and small patches of unobstructed backdrop such as the sky it was being perpetually launched into.
The light-lapis shaded robe the priest was wearing wavered wildly from the magic trailing from all around him, and his hair jostled slightly from the current like energy flowing around him. For Remus, the concept was no different than maintaining a healing spell for an extended period. The strain was less over all, but the intensity and need for mental concentration in this moment was greater. However through the corner of his gaze, still fixated upwards upon the assailed monster, he saw Nayru beginning to move slightly. Until he saw her flat out fire a burst of light from her mouth. (He assumed it was her mouth, given that though her back was turned it came from her face. That or she was firing lighting from her eyes.) He also took the condition of her voice into factor before however. That also made it seem all the more likely it was her mouth that this energy burst forth.
So Nayru was some form of..lightning woman? It didn't change much for the priest. She was still Nayru. Sure she could do fancy shocky zap stuff. That didn't make her less of a person though. They were all still human. The intense blast that had likely entirely obliterated the Deathgoyle caught the priests attention, head whipping to the side as it flew into the ground with a lifeless "plop" before tumbling a few times. What ultimately caught Remus' eye however was Nayru dropping down. That was more of a priority(her well being) than the state of the murder death monsters being almost entirely dead, or actually dead.
The priest quietly ran over to the woman, before taking a moment to observe her. He needn't look longer to recognize she was obviously not well. Lifting his staff, Remus tapped into the familiar healing magics he was all too used to. Slightly relieved by the familiar peaceful comfort that he felt when healing, and feeling an "old reliable" sense when performing it as opposed to the new shiny Light Magic. The priest quieted himself, and began to channel his energy inwards before lifting his staff and pointing it towards Nayru. The energy swirled and pulsed with vibrant life around him as an orb of sapphire arcane essence blossomed outwards around the dark haired woman. Remus did not idly cast it however. He maintained it, holding the spell for several moments to ensure Nayru was healed as best he could. He had no idea the severity of her wounds, or if they were just fatigue. However he did not want to find out that this power ravaged her body and did permanent damage because he had not thought to dedicate a few extra moments to healing her further.
When the magic ended, the priest gazed down at the woman with a soft smile. His staff now pressing lightly to the dirt of the ground as he gazed curiously. He spoke hesitantly, stirred to speak by her own silence. "Er..Nayru...are you okay?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 20, 2015 8:51:16 GMT -6
In a perfect world, the immortal and invincible Nayru would have laughed off Remus's petty concerns, stood up, slapped him on the back, and carried him princess style into the sunset, or at least to wherever in the village he wanted to go.
In the real world, she managed something between a moan and a bit of a whimper before flopping over like a dead fish, one hand moving to her throat as burnt-out nerve endings were restored to working condition. Turned out that fixing her pain receptors let her feel the burn all over like it was her maiden voyage! Good times. She didn't take her frustration out on Remus of course, it wasn't HIS fault she'd just tried to permanently destroy her lungs, but even his magic could only do so much.
The real problem, after all, wasn't just the physical damage. You could get that healed, dragons weren't immune to healing or any such bullshit. No, the issue was the damage to her magic circuits, a grim reminder that all the power in the world didn't do you much good if you couldn't use it worth a god damn. And the dirt wasn't that uncomfortable, really, her hair was a wonderful cushion... sort of... god she was going to have to wash it all out. Maybe gargoyle blood was actually a powerful and effective shampoo...
It hurt, but she managed a wry smile to Remus, or at least in his general direction, in response to hi question as she tried to gauge what condition she was in. Sadly Nayru didn't have a huge deal of experience with being healed by magic or x-ray vision into her own body; normally she could estimate based off of essence flow, but that was shot to hell right now, the overflow of prana flooding her unharmed magic circuits and spilling out everywhere in her body in ways that were probably not healthy, so she settled for experimentally massaging her throat in hopes that it A. didn't kill her and B. revealed some cosmic truths. It didn't, but the pain was dying down enough that she figured it was probably safe to try speaking.
"...Never better."
A gurgling chortle followed her attempt at wittiness, her closest approximation of a laugh, and Nayru finally let her body relax a little bit, her right hand flopping from her throat to the ground an inch away as her shoulders untensed a little, taking in a deep breath as if to confirm her lungs were still there. Or... back. She honestly wasn't sure how bad the damage had been before Remus had healed her, but at the same time, Nayru was pretty sure she didn't actually want to know. "So... did we get 'em?" Her voice was still a bit scratchy but filled less with pain than a tremor of hope. She kinda figured they had if Remus was just gonna be chilling there next to her, but she wasn't sure she could actually move her head right now to check. And she had been curious what his beside manner was like anyways.
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Post by Remus on Oct 20, 2015 10:54:24 GMT -6
She was okay. An immense wave of relief washed over the priest as his expression instantly warmed up, a larger smile and even a nervously happy chuckle slipping past the priests lips. He beamed at the woman for a moment with admiration before shifting to look towards the sundered corpses now resting on the ground. He quietly lingered towards their direction for a few passing seconds before looking back to Nayru and quietly nodding. The shaggy blue haired priest chuckled again before speaking up. "They are dead. That, or they've chosen the most opportune times for us to rest. Most fortuitous wouldn't you say?"
He laughed a bit. He had seldom felt so happy! The gargoyles were defeated. Nayru and he were safe, and the others had been protected! Though, speaking of the others; he'd thought at that moment it would be best to check on Amelia and Owain. First though.."Need some help getting up?" A voice abruptly broke the lingering silence as Remus extended a hand towards Nayru to help her rise, given how tired she looked.
"THAT...WAS...SO..COOOOOOOOOL!" Remus didn't even need to raise his head to know who that was. In-fact...if he hadn't offered his hand to help Nayru get up, that hand may have smacked his face hard enough to leave a dent. The small raven pigtails of Amelia flailed wildly in the air as she came running out from behind the broken section of the buildings wall she'd been watching the fight from, tiny arm outstretched dragging poor quiet Owain along for the trip. She however, did not stop say..like a normal kid would have, a few feet from the clearly two tired adults. Instead, she flat out launched herself at Remus, giggling and rambling loudly the entire time as she knocked the priest off balance. "Ooof! Woah now Ameli-Gahh!"
The slightly fatigued priest tumbled sideways, falling almost ontop of Nayru, managing barely to only partially land on her. This left Giggling Amelia laying half on Remus, half on Nayru. Owain, probably the only one there not in a giant clump of bodies, was standing quietly, with part of his shirt sleeve trapped between his teeth and his hand to his mouth obviously just observing. Amelia's prattling and on goings were enough to make up for ten Owain's though.
"That was so cool! Remus was all "AHHH, Pew pew pew pew" and Nayru was all "RAAAAAAWRR! BLARRRRRRGGG" and lights and lasers and punches!!! IT WAS SO COOOOL!"
The small child, now spent from her exertion of shouting, flailed and then flopped down idly upon the two before erupting into a fit of giggles once more. What ever Nayru's secret was, Amelia was now a fan of it.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Oct 20, 2015 11:38:02 GMT -6
"Argh, my spleen!" From where she was lying, Nayru couldn't actually SEE what was going on, but it didn't take a genius to recognize Amelia's voice and guess that Remus hadn't just decided to take a random dirt nap on top of her, so she had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and that it probably had something to do with the giggling monstrosity who appeared to be pinning her and Remus down with phenomenal cosmic power, or at least the small and fragile body of a young girl. 50 50. "Don't worry," the momentarily indisposed dragon continued in as close to a jovial tone as she could manage, though it still came out sounding a bit tired. "It only hurts when I laugh."
Chuckling at how quickly the situation had gone from dire to dorky, Nayru simply allowed herself to be for a time, not quite reveling in the human contact and relaxed atmosphere but not far away from it either. It felt - good. Yes, ok, it also felt like her body was sore as hell and her lungs threatened to give out on her, but mostly it just felt like she'd actually managed to do something right - help people - that she had actually been able to be a shield for Remus, for Amelia, for all the people here. Maybe not the greatest sword, that was apparently Remus's job when everything was apparently immune to punching, but she had done something positive for these people.
Hmmm... but if Amelia was here... "Listen, Amelia, this is very important." Extricating her left arm to some degree from its somewhat awkward position beneath her side, she reached upward blindly, finding the giggling fiend's head and tousling her hair with her dirty fingers affectionately. "You need to keep an eye on Remus and make sure he doesn't go mad with power now, you hear? If you don't keep him well trained, he might replace you as the dark overlord of Elibe, and you'd be out of a job." Yes, it was best she planted the poison in the girl's mind now to keep Remus from getting any funny ideas about purging all life from Elibe or crucifying everyone... or at least that was the excuse. Really she just wanted to see what horrors Amelia could cook up for the hapless priest. She almost felt bad for him!
Almost.
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