Tempest [Nayru/Veigue/Hayle][Finished]

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Soundtrack

The crimson blur was already past by the time she began to react to it, hurling herself to the right to avoid the silvery arc of the enormous axe, the world rotating around her as she struggled to find her footing. It took a moment to realize what it had been - another flaming arrow, the tip embedded in the tortured grass of the courtyard as the flames consumed the wood.

All around, the sounds of chaos rang true, a clarion cacophony of steel and blood that threatened to consume their group whole. A routine bandit extermination gone horribly awry; where they had expected a small group of ramshackle bandits, they had found a private army, 'bandits' who clearly shared a military background. Well-aimed arrows that never seemed to hit friendlies when fired into the fracas, fighters with more experience than anyone she had ever fought, and weaponry she had never seen before - blades of silver and steel, that sparkled in the light and cut like the fangs of a dragon.

Again the blade came at her, a massive horizontal arc that bit into the flesh of her forearm and drew blood to match the long gash at her side received only a minute ago. Before she could even counterattack, the sound of motion at her right alerted Nayru to her impending doom, and she hurled herself backwards, followed by droplets of blood as the axehead receded from the round, as a gleaming lance impaled the area she had been mere moments before. They fought together too well for her to even counterattack effectively, and while she had managed to kill two so far, that had only ensured they treated her even more appropriately, never letting her in range to go on the offensive herself.

[Deleted]

Seems like they were always thrown into unfortunate situations. At least this time, it wasn't his fault. Jaquio had nothing to do with this.

Well, technically it was since this was the worst time to start picking back on on his line of mercenary work. All he wanted to do was just help out, but he didn't expect a "simple group of bandits" turning into a "well-trained group of possible soldiers". Didn't help that they were surrounded either. While Nayru and Hayle had their troubles and he wanted to give them a hand, he had to make sure his head didn't get chopped off in the process, barely dodging the sword that just swung at him overhead. All the hell he's been putting his poor sword through these days, he's surprised it hadn't snapped like a twig at this point. These guys were packing weaponry that he hadn't dealt with before. Hey, Kenji. Now would be an amazing time to say Veigue was worthy of using you now. Well, that was hard considering...it can't talk.

...Huh. There was an arrow pierced into the back of the upper area of his left arm. How long had that been there?

Strange considering that's the third time he's been struck there with an arrow. What's so special about that spot on his arm that attracts arrows to it like a bullseye? Regardless, the swordsman was fighting off of adrenaline at this point and he wasn't surprised that he got hit and didn't know. Sucked because he was just now feeling the pain of it. He was stuck in a clash between the same silver sword wielding bandit, when he realized from the corner of his eye one of the archers were actually nearby, but properly shielded by some of his allies. That must have been the punk that shot him. But he was readying an arrow. Not good since he was blade was still locked with the sword bandit. He had an idea, though it risked taking a serious hit considering how skilled this guy was, and it probably would have only resulted in him getting hit. He lowered the amount of strength he was placing in the struggle just as he watched the arrow being readied to fire.

With almost perfect timing, he slid off his enemy's blade and ducked off to the side a split second before the arrow shot. Unfortunately, the "bandit" still reacted surprisingly quick as the arrow flew towards him, allowing his ally's arrow to deflect off of a sword swipe. "Damn it..." He was planning on that to work. But he saw an opening that little maneuver alone created for him, the sword user completely vulnerable on his side. The sacaean sprinted as quickly as he ever could, pushing his body to the max as he swung his blade horizontally. The bandit couldn't react in time as Veigue's blade grazed through his unprotected area of his side, and finished him with a couple more rapid strikes aimed for the neck and shoulder. Too early to celebrate as a nearby axeman was ready to gut him. Unable to move quick enough to dodge, he dropped his sheath as he gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands, blocking the attack with all his strength. Well...he was stuck. And it didn't seem like no one could slip him out this one with so much going on. That archer from the distance was locked on him like a hawk. Had to think of something quick or this was literally the end for him.

[Hayle]

And yet again, Hayle found himself stuck in a situation where the reality was vastly disproportionate to what they'd been told.

Kill some bandits. Nice easy merc werk, there were only what, 10-15 of them? Probably too stupid to even know which end of the sword to hold.

But nooooooo. What they were up against seemed like a veritable horde, all packing a delightful variety of sharp and pointy things in various colors and metals. All, unfortunately, aimed at the erstwhile trio. And all, it seemed, working in near perfect harmony to try and kill them.

And currently, they were trying very very hard to do just that. Pinned down as he was by enemy archers, Hayle found plenty of time to complain.

"Small group of bandits, they said. Sure, but clearly they left out the operative word, army. Exactly what did I do to deserve this?"

Nayru was currently, well... handling probably wasn't the right word. Surviving? Probably closer. Engaged in combat with 3 foes at once, the whirling mass of steel and silver was keeping her on her toes. Veigue had just dropped another swordsman, blood gushing from various wounds but the pressure didn't let up with an axeman hot on his heels. The archer drawing a bead on him from the wall was probably going to ruin his day.

Well, too bad, Hayle wasn't about to let that happen.

"Hey, Sparky! Catch this!"

Leaping out behind cover, arrow at the ready, Hayle let fly at the errant archer before rolling as he hit ground, hopefully safe for the moment. Sticking his head up quickly, he saw that his arrow was at least somewhat on target. The archer, having sprouted an a new, feathered decoration in their thigh was in no mood to play Veggie Pincushion.

Problem solved.

For now.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Nayru wasn't even sure when she had last her left kama. She had drawn them both at the start, she was pretty sure of that, then everything just went downhill from there, and somewhere around the time everything had hit rock bottom and started drilling directly down from there, one of them had gone missing. She wasn't actually sure if it was the left one she had lost, or if she had lost the right one and was now just holding the left one in her right hand. Not that it mattered a whole lot, she could fight unarmed... but it REALLY hurt when these thugs had weapons that could bite through her reinforcement. It was like a human stopping a spiked club with their bare hands; sure they might succeed, but that only worked a certain number of times before you stopped having enough hand left to do it again.

She was definitely starting to lose her temper, which wasn't a good thing at the best of times, but at this point the young dragon wasn't actually all that concerned. It wasn't like she was going to randomly transform if she got a bit miffy, and maybe she could channel it into her strikes. Certainly she needed more power... a concept that had been alien to her for centuries, and only now, now that she was actually starting to fight more than absolutely necessary, was she regretting not having considered the issue sooner.

The axe user was already on her, clearly not interested in giving her time to plan anything fancy. Nayru glared at him, but rather than gloat he simply continued with the grim expression he had worn the entire fight so far, the one he had worn ever since she ripped one of his companions in half with her bear hands. He did not intend to meet the same fate, it was obvious, and her trump card of unexpected strength had already been played. So what was left? A diagonal blow forced her to react, bringing up the remaining kama to blow it, a motion that was knocked aside by the force of the colossal axe due to the sheer underwhelming size of her own weapon.

At least it gave her a small opportunity. Unable to bring her free arm to bear quickly enough, nor with enough room to actually maneuver the blade, she settled for a jarring elbow strike to his chest as the axe fell, barely missing her leg. He stumbled back, pulling the axe up defensively, but it was unnecessary - the dragon's attempt at a follow-up blow was interrupted by the need to avoid the combination of lance stabs and two arrows in rapid succession. Less avoid than make herself a hard target, in the latter case; the archer targeting her was clearly exceptionally skilled, but no amount of skill would allow him to shoot directly through his allies without harming them.

But at least they were human. They had limits. They might be a well-oiled group, but they would slip up eventually. For now, it was her job to draw as much attention as possible, so her less-durable companions could function without being overwhelmed.

The next time the lance came for her, she hooked it with her remaining kama, pulling it towards her and to the side as the surprised soldier failed to react quickly enough, his expression of surprise only visible for a moment before her waiting left fist simply plowed through his head and splattered the detritus across the scenery behind him... including his axe-wielding companion. "Dammit!" he swore venomously, his anger finally visible. Had it been building up since she killed his first companion? Could she use that? She didn't have the battlefield experience or control of the situation to know. Only instincts. Instincts, and her natural abilities.

Grabbing the thoroughly-dead lance user's corpse with her right hand, she lifted it as a momentary shield before hurling it at the axe wielder. When he slashed it out of the air with contemptuous ease, the dragon was already on him like a raging bull, slamming into his front hard with a shoulder-check forcible enough to crush bone, and she could hear the symphony of sadism even as she brought the kama down on his arm, cutting through it and barely slowing at the bone as the arm came off in a grisly spray.

Another arrow came, but this time it went right through the still-living man, coming out mere inches from her head. Less an arrow than a small harpoon. Nayru cursed under her breath, realizing that any hope of using him as a hostage or even meatshield would end badly. It was hard enough to even focus on the current fight, she had no idea where Hayle was - hopefully alive - and she could barely see that Veigue was fighting someone out of the corner of her eye, but not well enough to see what was going on. She sincerely hoped they were doing better than she was, or this little bounty would remain unsolved for a while longer.

[Deleted]

Huh. Well, he wasn't expecting Hayle to jump out of the blue, but regardless, the companion saved his life and definitely made his situation less stressful. That archer wasn't in the condition to attack him now. He'd have to thank Hayle later when they weren't being mobbed, and to not give him anymore trouble where he was protected. But before he needed to worry about that, he had another axeman to take care of. Despite having the weapon advantage in his struggle, it was the simple fact that his opponent was just outright stronger than him in the brute strength department. He couldn't even parry the attack because of his disadvantage in raw power. He was certain the man was trying to disarm and cleave right through him in the process. He was not going to let that happen.

So it was time to use all of his techniques to their full advantage now. It was either that or die. He released his right hand from his sword as that only pushed him further back and the back of his blade was almost touching his face. But the man was hunched over and grinning as he was certain he'd won. Taking advantage of this, Veigue balled up his left hand as tightly as he could, sending a hook with his fist as the strong punch smashed upon the side of the man's face. Thankfully none of his injuries didn't affect his legs, so the moment the man was temporarily stunned, he parried the axe before twisting over to the opponent's backside. He had a big opening there, but he knew the man would soon turn around quickly, so with the side of his hand, he sent a chop to the back of his neck, disorienting the man even further and he followed it up with a quick, yet powerful thrust with his sword through the opponent's back, the end of his blade piercing all the way through like it was a spear.

That finished him, pulling his blade out to let the dying man drop into the dirt. He was still at a lost as to how to proceed now. More were bound to get on him within the next couple of seconds and he finally caught full sight of his allies. Nayru seemed to have things under control, but an archer was still harassing her from a distance. And it seemed like the larger pool of enemies were over there. Hayle on the other hand had found cover, but was also being bombarded by enemy archers. Both of them clearly needed help, but he needed to help them both, not just one. Those quick-thinking skills needed to kick in...quickly!

It would probably take a while to break through and get to Nayru...and if he tried to help her out now in his current position, he'd only make more trouble for her. However, if he could bail Hayle (heh) out of his current situation as quickly as he could, both of them could aid Nayru together. He might attract more close ranged fighters over there, but it seemed like a lot of them were diverting their attention from him to Nayru. There was no way he could tear through them alone without seriously getting himself hurt, so his gut told him to help Hayle out now before it got even more crowded over there. "Hold on for just a few more moments, Nayru..." He just had to trust she won't get herself killed until then. With that, he locked onto the nearby archers that had Hayle pinned down.

Rushing in wasn't going to help, so he had to indirectly assist his ally. What better way to do that than grabbing their attention? If Hayle took advantage of it, he could attack the distracted archers and that would create double the confusion for the enemies. Thankfully one of the archers were close to him, creeping on the distracted enemy before sprinting forth with a sudden burst of speed. The enemy realized Veigue charged him, but couldn't react as he still had his hand on his bowstring. The swordsman grabbed the archer from behind, at least having an opponent here he was physically stronger than. He kept the man in a hold while his blade was placed at the archer's throat. Then with a merciless swipe of the sword, the archer's neck was slit instantly. This gained the attention he desired...somewhat. He noticed almost immediately after when he was in range, a few arrows were coming his way. They were aimed so accurately to where he couldn't use the corpse as a shield. Great. He just dropped the dead guy and rolled out of the line of fire. Hopefully the start of his distraction was enough to buy Hayle enough time. All he had to do was dodge for his life and slowly get closer. Easier said than done...

[Hayle]

Hayle watched in mild horror as the gigantic bolt turned what was left of the enemy Nayru had slightly dismembered into something vaguely resembling mincemeat.

"Why do they get all the fun toys? First silver weapons, now a ballista? What's next, a dragon?"

Blah. Things were just really not going their way. Of course, if he could get to that ballista, things might slowly start to turn back around. Turning enemies into shishkabob was somewhat appealing, he had to admit.

'Course, he had to get there first. And he couldn't do that without first helping his friends. Who were honestly, doing a pretty good job of trying to get killed but honestly, he couldn't blame em. There were kinda a lot of enemies after all. Heck, a lot of the archers were even aiming at the dynamic duo.

That was an opportunity not to be missed.

Grabbing 3 arrows from his quiver, Hayle stabbed them point first into the ground. Nocking the 3rd and crouching down behind the broken wall, he peeked his head over the top to check where his targets stood.

"Time for a little fancy shooting, I think."

Focusing hard, time seeming to slow down, Hayle popped up arrow at the ready and with a swift motion, let it fly at the first archer. Arrows 2 and 3 followed swiftly afterwards, gracefully arcing downwards.

Two of the archers crumpled to the ground, arrows sprouting from side and arm respectively. The other archer unfortunatly didn't gain a new fashion accessory but their diving to the ground meant the heat was off for now.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Well... that was a little worrying. She didn't know a whole lot about weapons of war and their strengths and weaknesses and tactical operation, but it didn't take a genius to realize that anything that shot bolts almost as long as she was tall was not something to be trifled with.

Just bandits. If they got out of this, she was going to have a friendly Talk(tm) with Veigue about exactly how he picked jobs, and maybe suggest that they stay away from jobs with fine print longer than the actual job description. Frustrated and still sore as hell, Nayru coped by petulantly hurling the skewered corpse at the ballista, which went... exactly as well as one might expect such a lopsided missile, thrown inexpertly, to go; it arced off to the side haphazardly, impacting one wall of the 'abandoned' fort nearly thirty feet off of its intended target.

She needed - more power. Nayru drank deep from her stone, her power, flooding her body with it as she removed what limiters had proven safe to release in the past. She could feel the charge coursing through her, figuratively and literally alike, the brewing storm leaving her midway between giddy and faint. It was a heady rush, but she forced herself to focus, to be aware of the battlefield as best she could. The immediate fight had died down, or rather the bandits were regrouping, yet more of them pouring out of the 'abandoned' fort.

Her heart sank as she saw. One wielded a blade of living flame, and the robes that two of the others wore reeked of magecraft. Behind those three towered an armored giant wielding an axe that froze the very air, hissing audibly even across the dozen meters separating them. Nayru didn't know much about magic weapons, but she knew that they were among the most powerful weaponry humanity had access to, akin to watered-down versions of the Legendary Weapons - and while she didn't know exactly how much weaker they were, the dragoness suspected that not even she could take a hit from one of those and come out unscathed.

They couldn't run. Not now. If the group had seen the trap beforehand, they might have known better than to spring its jaws, but now all three of them were trapped within the courtyard, unable to turn their backs to their foes without ending up face-down, riddled with arrows. And that was assuming they even made it that far. Would only take one good shot with the ballista to take her down, and the sheer force of the projectile would literally rip Veigue and Hayle apart. Faaantastic.

Without any idea what to do - she was a wanderer, a dancer, a baker, a farmer, and a runaway teenager, not a tactician - Nayru took a step backwards, raising her voice and finally calling for her belabored comrades. "Veigue! Hayle! Ideas?"

[Hayle]

"Slightly busy here!" Hayle yelled out as he ducked and rolled as 3 arrows sped his way. Clearly, the archers he'd shot at had friends and they were most unhappy with his and Veigue's handiwork so far.

Well, that meant they were doing their jobs at least. That said, with all the arrows flying around, Hayle was glad that he'd convinced Sere to stay behind at the inn in town where they'd got the merc contract. This place was no place for a cat, even an obnoxious one like Sere.

And really, Hayle didn't have enough friends that he could afford to put one in risk, even if this one was a feline.

Popping up briefly from his cover and sending an arrow at the enemy archers, Hayle found a slight moment of breathing space which gave him time to think.

He could shoot, and he helped them get past a nest of ravenous, giant magical spiders but they were too far away from the forest for the angry arachnids to be of any help here.

Of course! An idea came to mind.

"Nayru, Veigue! D'you think you can get me over to that ballista? If I can get in control of that, it might be enough to turn the tide of this battle."

[Deleted]

Good, he was liking how this was coming along so far. The archers were falling one by one, and...

Damn it, did more of the "bandits" seriously just pour out of that fort? Well, that wasn't a good sign that things were going smoothly now. They even brought more serious firepower to the battlefield as well. On the bright side though, all three of them were together again...somewhat. Too bad that didn't mean much now that they had an even bigger problem on their hands. He gripped his sword tighter as he kept a serious, yet surprisingly calm expression. Getting frustrated was only going to make things worst, so clearing his mind was about the best thing he could do. However, this wasn't some everyday stuff here. A blade of flame...he heard about weapons with magical abilities, but never seen one in person. The first time he's seen one, and hopefully not the last. He still didn't know what kind of power it held, so he was at a lost.

"...I wish I did." This time, he was completely out of ideas. He wasn't going to accept death though, so there had to be a way out of this. They were more or less forced to fight this out to the very end and this was like taking on an army. Next time when he take jobs like these, he's going to do a little scouting before actually accepting it. He still couldn't shake the feeling that this was a trap from the very beginning. People usually didn't lie about stuff like this when they need help.

It was then that Hayle's idea sparked...aaaand remembered they still had a few archers within the vicinity. But it wasn't a bad idea. Really, it'd be a major turn as their companion said. "Go for it! We don't have much to lose, either way. If we don't do something quick, this'll be over for us in seconds." He shouted out before he sprinted over to attack another distracted archer aimed at Hayle, giving the man a swift end with a stab to the chest before looking back over in Hayle's direction. "I can cover you from behind and Nayru from the front as you make your way to it."

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

To the ballista...?

Nayru hesitated for a second, staring at the small army of angry and menacing-looking soldiers in between them and their prize. She had no idea how they were supposed to get Hayle past them unscathed and up to the ballista stop the battlements... much less do so without all of them dying horribly... but he HAD had good ideas during that whole fiasco with the Baels, so maybe her judgement was just lacking. Or maybe it was a terrible idea and they were all just going to die faster. She wasn't really sure which was more likely, but they sure as hell weren't going to get out of this alive if they couldn't at least agree on what to do. "...Understood."

One simple word that took more out of her than she'd thought it would. Trying to dedicate herself to completing that plan... was this what it was like to work as part of a team? Putting your life on the line and trusting those at your side to succeed as well? It was - overwhelming, honestly, and if she was to be completely honest with herself, terrifying. After countless years, decades, centuries of prioritizing her own survival... risking it for anyone else was about as unnatural as anything else she could think of.

And yet, here she was. Nayru grimaced a bit, facing away from her friends, towards the coming threat. She had known all along she likely only had a few months left, but it was disconcerting to be reminded that was the best case scenario, not guaranteed. If she fell here... well, at least Veigue and Hayle wouldn't have to sully their memories of her.

Deep breath. In. Hold. Exhale. She couldn't perform a partial transformation here, not with so many witnesses, not with Hayle around, and least of all with the risk of losing control entirely when she already had so little time remaining. But it was clear that her usual approach would bear no fruit. What did she have left. One kama, not that that would do her any good. Time to experiment. At least the situation couldn't get much worse at this point.

Her remaining weapon dropped to the ground uselessly, embedding itself slightly in the battered earth. Without a teacher, without experience, without knowledge, she could only rely on instinct, on what was as much a part of her as her mind and body and soul. Nayru wasn't even sure exactly what she was trying to do... but the motions felt somehow familiar. Not to her. A... genetic memory or something, maybe. Natural, as though it had always been a part of her. And yet not. As she carefully amped up the flow of power from her stone, her self, she silently focused on containing it. It was still alien to this forged body, but after so long living and - for better or for worse - fighting, the dragon could still know this body as if it was a second skin.

Smooth... even. At least she could channel power through this form to some degree or another, even if she was beginning to miss her true- no, focus on the here and the now. The feeling was electrifying, both figuratively and literally, as the merest trickle of the thunder dragon's raw essence began to flow through her mortal shell. An imperfect form, one whose edges wore and chafed at the unnatural power, but a workable conduit despite the growing pain.

She could feel it - coursing through her. Nayru closed her eyes for a long second, trying to come to terms with the flow of energy, and reopened them again as she almost spasmed for a moment. Had it worked? Probably. Hopefully. She had never tried this before, never been able to regulate the flow effectively enough to even experiment... the only way to know for sure would be to field test it. The dragon raised her right hand before her, clenching her fist and willing her Self to extend to it, through it, as it had with the rest of her body.

A glint, and light erupted along her arm, arcing bolts that jumped from point to point along its length as they coursed from shoulder to fist and back again. Her shoulder almost spasmed again, but Nayru held it still through sheer force of will as she focused on trying to - regulate the flow, or something, it was all very instinctive and she wasn't even sure how she would be able to inject the charge into the target. But this was the furthest she had ever gotten, and if she survived the day, hopefully only the beginning.

The group that had emerged from the fort was still approaching, spreading out into a semicircle to encompass them. At least she would die quickly if this wouldn't work. Nayru was almost tempted to smile - it sounded more like something Hayle would say than in-character for her. Maybe there was something wrong with her. But she was here now, trapped in the present, and there would be no future for her - for any of them - if she did not act regardless of the consequences. She couldn't think of anything to say to her companions. Maybe for the best.

Nayru wasn't really big on charging, but she didn't have many options right now, what with both of the enemy mages looking like they were about to start casting, and she didn't expect to come out of whatever elemental maelstrom they might be cooking unscathed. And the draconic essence flowing through her was intoxicating. It felt like she could do anything, beat anything. The dragon's conscious intelligence was still in control for the time being, she knew how inaccurate that was, but the feeling was overwhelming nonetheless.

With a yell, she exploded into action, breaking into a dead run at the center of the enemy line, the towering monster with the icy axe her first target.

[Hayle]

Gah. Okay. Nayru charging headlong into the opposing force was not quite how he thought things would be going down.

But gods know if it didn't provide a much needed distraction. Hayle really hoped that their improptu leader had given that plan at least a couple seconds of thought though.

But okay. She and Veigue were trusting him to get to the ballista. He had to repay that trust back even a little. Of course, Hayle had failed to mention that he'd never exactly used a ballista before, but it really was just like a big bow so hopefully it'd work out. Hopefully.

"Veigue, lets go, while they're distracted!"

Making a break for the ballista and trusting Veigue to keep some of the pressure off, Hayle ran like never before. Nayru's frankly shocking manouver had thrown the bandit group for a loop, some of them falling back in shock at the sheer stupidity but all keeping their eyes on the rampaging woman.

20 feet left to the ballista. The archer controlling it hadn't seemed to notice Hayle's whirlwind like sprint in his general direction, which while working well for Hayle, did not bode well for his continued existance in the near future.

Slowing down, Hayle rolled and went into a crouch on the ground. Even he couldn't miss at this distance. Nocking an arrow and quickly coming to full draw, things were suddenly about to go really badly for the enemy arrowslinger.

Breathing out, Hayle sighted and let fly the arrow. With a piercing whistle, it flew through the air, the enemy realising what was happening just a little too late, turning around to face Hayle as the arrow buried itself in his throat, knocking him back from the ballista controls and into the sweet embrace of oblivion.

This was his chance. Bursting up from his crouching position, Hayle leapt towards the ballista controls. Thankfully, Nayrus bold move not only meant all eyes were on her, but the ballista was trained in her general direction as well.

"Time for a little payback!"

[Deleted]

The swordsman resisted the urge to sigh as he didn't really expect Nayru to dart off like that. He wished that there was time to reconsider a different plan, but things were at least going good enough to where any of the new enemies from the fort wouldn't attack from the front. He just had to trust that she'd be okay. When Hayle gave the ready, he sprinted behind after nodding, but controlled his speed so he could cover the archer when needed. Thankfully, he didn't have much work to do but just stay on guard, thanks to Nayru's distraction. He watched the events unfold as Hayle quickly disposed of the enemy who previously used the giant bow, the sacaean now looking back and forth to spread his range of protection. Even though Hayle successfully secured the ballista, he could still be attacked.

...Though the silent swordsman frowned as the commotion of capturing the ballista caught the attention of two bandits who were the closest and had spotted him immediately. Two on one...great. At least he lucked out and none of his opponents had any of the crazy magic weapons. Another axe and sword user. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes here...as any attacks aimed at his vital points would drop him, considering his previous wounds already. He had to fend off any attackers so Hayle wouldn't be interrupted. Waiting for the two to come at him would only force him into a defensive position, and he knew full well he couldn't just fight them like that while backed into a corner. So instead, he was going to fight with everything he had left. As long as he shielded his vital areas, he would just have to deal with more injures if inflicted by their weapons.

Since the sword user seemed like he was quicker on his feet compared to his axe friend, Veigue took a large step forward before darting himself at the bandit, swinging his sword horizontally in a quick motion to place the sword bandit on the defensive. With the axeman following up almost immediately, Veigue's combat instincts kicked in at the perfect time as he ducked under a sword swipe while remaining crouched, then swung his left leg in a clean sweep. His leg tripping the sword user and the man falling backwards, he sprung back into action as he blocked the incoming axe, but wasn't going to sit there and have another struggle. He didn't have that much time before the sword user recovered, and he was just going to get overpowered like he almost did before. He parried the attack, but wasn't going to allow the axeman to recover. He had an opening right there...and Veigue was going to take advantage of it instantly. When he brought his sword back straight after the parry, his counter attack was quickly executed while lunging himself forth with his weapon, the blade thrusting through the man's chest, as he made sure to attack where he could kill in one blow.

Just as he anticipated, his little sword friend regained his stance, but went into a wild charge as he witnessed the deadly assault on his comrade. With his sword still stabbed in the man's chest, Veigue twisted himself around the dying bandit while making use of his weakened opponent's lack of strength to hold himself up, the body twisting around with him. He timed his little maneuver just right, as the other bandit swung his sword rapidly, yet his attacks only struck his ally, who was pretty much dead now. Veigue then yanked his sword out as he pushed the dead body into the sword user as he tumbled on down with the literal dead weight. When the man pushed his comrade's body off of him, all he saw was Veigue's sword aimed low, but was too late as the sacaean dashed past him at a speed his body was too slow to react to. The merciless strike decapitated the bandit the moment it connected with his neck, Veigue standing still and not looking at the gruesome scene he just created. Instead, he just stood there to catch his breath. He didn't know what else was going to come at him next.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Well... on the bright side, at least she wouldn't have much time to regret this plan if it failed. Nayru smiled grimly at the thought, the irony it entailed. A more fatalistic view than she was used to, and yet hope died quickly when faced with such overwhelming force. She had never faced a mortal with a magical weapon before, and no more than a few hedge mages among bandits, amateurs wielding weak tomes poorly. This group was clearly a step, or five, above that.

So - time to do or die. She reached the axe-wielding juggernaut quickly enough that neither of the mages - sages? - could cast effectively, though her opponent was under no such constraints. The axe came down like the hammer of judgement, an avalanche of unrelenting force that she met with a pulsating burst of power that erupted upwards as fist met blade, a shockwave of light and sound that sent streaks of lightning upwards into the sky around them even as the tide of icy magic parted around her, icy spikes themselves erupting from the ground behind her as the axe's attack tore through the earth.

The reverberations of the clash echoed through her arm, but there was no time to sit around feeling sorry for herself. Grimacing, Nayru hurled herself forwards again, her left arm ahead this time as the armored man brought the axe up parallel to his body, blocking the strike and being hurled backwards, skidding several meters from the sheer force of the magical detonation.

[Hayle]

Disaster struck. Well, more disaster on top of the disaster they were currently in. Disasterception, clearly.

Target in sight, Hayle went to pull the lever to release the giant bolt and send it on its way but the somewhat muffled snapping sound that accompanied the attempt sent a chill down his spine. Something was not right here.

Discretion clearly being the better part of valor here, he wasn't about to sit around on the off chance that the infernal contraption might actually shoot. Grabbing his bow, he dived from the ballista to land on the ground in a sprawled heap.

Not a moment too soon either. The machine, clearly unhappy with the idea of an inexperienced user at the controls, had decided enough was enough. With various cracking, snapping and crunching sounds, the oversized bow limbs at the front gave way and fell to the ground in pieces.

"Oh come on... really?" muttered Hayle, picking himself off the ground while moving the hair out of his eyes with his free hand... only to throw himself back at the ground as the spectacular results of magical axe meeting seemingly inhuman Nayru flew in his general direction, culminating in a rather large, rather pointy ice spike buring itself in what remained of the ballista.

Swearing under his breath, Hayle picked himself off the ground yet again, looking most dishevelled and dirty.

"Well, looks like we need a new plan now."

[Deleted]

Well, there was certainly a light show going on over there. That just worried him more. Sitting here doing nothing wasn't going to get them anywhere, and judging from the sounds from behind him, Hayle wasn't having too much of a good time back there. He'd turn around to see what was up, but he didn't want to let his guard down for even a second. He wasn't even sure if there were more archers eyeing him from a distance where he couldn't pick them up. But if he remained in constant movement, he could at least dodge them...without meaning to dodge them. Sometimes crazy stuff like that happens. It was only a matter of time before more goons take the opportunity to go pass Nayru while she's brawling with the axeman, the fight itself was already raising an eyebrow, remembering what his friend told him about her power...

"...She'll get into more trouble at this rate. Hayle, I'm going in to help...or at least try to pull her out of there." It was clear enough for him to turn his head slightly, just enough to look beyond his shoulder while realizing the ballista...had seen better days. There goes their plan. But it seemed like he needed to go with his gut this time. No matter how strong Nayru was, they were going to overwhelm her soon. "Not much time left to come up with anything better, but I trust that you've got my back covered during my charge?" It was somewhat of a rhetorical question, knowing Hayle for only a short amount of time, but knowing he could trust the recently acquired ally with his back well enough. What he planned to do was dangerous and he could very well die within the next few minutes, but he had little choice. And he'd rather go out fighting to try and help his friends than to sit by and watch them die before he inevitably falls as well. And with that, he tightened the grip on both his sword and sheath before rushing forth.

...And just as he thought, some more of these ex-soldiers caught onto his sprint towards the group. More axemen and lance soldiers coming his way as one of the lance users were attempting to impale him. The swordsman was no fool to take it head on, spinning once in a swift dodge into the man's blind spot. This was it. He could feel everything around him moving smoothly, as if his senses were heightened to react to everything in front of him. Veigue himself didn't notice this entirely, however. The adrenaline rush kept him going and focused on the fight, but his movements were much more fluid and in control. More than he's ever fought before. Before he knew it, he'd already swung his sword once towards the enemy's side, but spun around the injured soldier as he tricked up the other two men attacking him. He swung his sword upwards and vertically, splitting the front of the helmet in half of the second lancer user as he was disoriented from the strike. Before the axeman could do anything, Veigue kicked the solider in the center of his stomach, forcing him backwards and crashing into his ally as they both hit the dirt.

"Got to keep moving..." Even though he left one severely injured and the other two temporarily stunned, he took the opportunity to bolt off again, deeper into the enemy ranks before the two rose and were about ready to chase after the sacaean. It was only going to get tougher, but Veigue's mind was completely in battle mode now. Until Nayru was in his sight, everything coming his way would be attacked, not giving the slightest bit of mercy to any opponent that bars his path.