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Post by Drei on Jul 14, 2015 10:55:50 GMT -6
For the most part...Drei was starting to feel content. The blaring violent headaches were at an all time low, and the constant dull throbbing pain he was almost acclimated to by this point. The snowy haired Shaman walked along side Mila with his hands in his pockets as he listened to the quiet trod of his horses hoofs following behind them. With his amber hues lingering on the small village in the distance, Drei shifted a bit and spoke up; breaking silence that had lasted a while. Though he enjoyed traveling with Mila, he still wasn't overly talkative. He'd reply and hold conversation when she spoke; but the constant internal struggle of his was fairly taxing.
"There's a village up ahead at-least. We should be able to rest a bit there."
Subconsciously his fingers brushed the raven shaded tome within his large robe pocket. His father's ruin tome. He couldn't fully comprehend the complexity of the magic yet. Given that Ruin was a spell which allowed the caster to mentally conjure up and solidify shadow into a palpable physical object that they then bent to their will, it was vastly different and obscure a notion compared to the malleable and flexible flux spell. A distinct scent caught his nose however and broke him of his thoughts. Burning. Something was burning. That distinct ash like texture to the scent made it obvious. From the initial distance he hadn't noticed it. Of the few houses he saw to the small town, he now noticed the moderately small plumes of smoke trailing upwards.
The houses were on fire!? What was it though? What could it have been? Drei's gaze darted from house to house to see the eerily stillness about them. He slowed his steps to a stop for a moment as he observed. No motion. No people running. No sounds. Just...silence and smoke. Unease crept into him as he looked to Mila before looking back at the town. "Should we check to see if anyone's there?"
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Post by Mila on Jul 14, 2015 11:41:31 GMT -6
Mila sighed softly as she trotted along with Drei. Perhaps trot wasn't exactly the best word for it more like shuffled through the grassy terrain in a walk that resembled a risen with a club foot. Her lack of sleep was starting to take it's toll to her body in a similar manner as it did back in Santaruz. And although Drei had agreed to watch over her as she slept she still found herself waking up in terror over her nightmares. She didn't tell the shaman much about them but lately they have been recurring.
The nightmares were fuzzy to her in her current state but she could definitely recall the long arm of a man pulling her into someplace dark then the rocks would tumble in from the walls and smother her. She would recall the voices shouting words at her which she assumed in the nightmare was coherent but when she was awake she couldn't understand what they meant. She just secretly hoped it wasn't a premonition of some kind. Or perhaps the memory of a trauma before the cave in in Nabata that she had forgotten just now starting to resurface. What ever it was it simply made her miserable. And as if to add insult to injury Mila had to contend with Drei's illness. She was grateful that the worst of it seemed to subside as they traveled together but she did not know when the next bout of pain would strike.
The mage had forgotten what they were talking about once she got a good look at the village ahead of her. She immediately pulled her book out and extended an arm to stop Drei and his horse from walking forward. Fires to a village were bad. But silent fires to villages were even worse. No fire is ever this silent unless the citizens were already dead. Even if it were caused by bandits there would have been some noise. She noticed the buildings were still standing and the way the smokes towered through into the air meant that there was still something fresh to be burned.
"The village is lost. We have monsters to deal with. Can't see which kind of monsters though not from this distance." She shook her head.
"Well.. WE can deal with them if you want to deal with the monsters. I HAVE to since it's part of my line of work."
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Post by Drei on Jul 14, 2015 18:19:18 GMT -6
Drei turned to face his steed. He lifted his palms to either side of the Etrurian horses white snout and stroked them lightly while pressing his forehead to the same elongated head. The boy's snowy white hair blend in with the shade of hair covering the horse. A few strokes to soothe his companion, and a few to entice him to stay...before Drei turned around slowly. He extended his left hand with his fingers curved as if forming a claw. His finger tips pointed out and were rigid, as small traces of whispy shadow formed between them and he channeled the flux spell into a spiraling mass of inky shadows. His yellow hued eyes locked onto the town ahead, growing serious more so and emptying his thoughts to a black canvas as he began manipulating the orb of shadows. Mila wasn't the only one that was going to take care of any monsters within this small homestead.
He spoke to Mila, attempting to muster some of his old dispoission as he focused further. The swirling mass of shadows condensed, becoming more compact with nether magic, as he spoke. "If I am to ever join this family of yours..then it would be my duty too..no?" He quickly rushed off after that single retort, the crunching of dried ground beneath his shoes as he rushed to the first house up ahead. He skid to a halt as he pressed to the side of the house and turned to peer out from around the side. A brief scan revealed no bodies. Some objects had been cast side. Baskets, farming tools. A small child's toy lay dust covered and somewhat flattened as if trampled. His eyes narrowed while he took slow steps. He strode out of the building's shadow and lifted his hand upwards. His palm felt heavy from the condensing magic..but he continued to channel strength into the spell. It was eerie..and off-setting how things looked. The smell of smoke now firmly circulated and wafted around him. He could smell something else. Something burning. It was foul however, and unpleasant unlike that of the aroma let off when food was cooked.
The air was too still. It felt as if there was a tension poised to break. An unseen danger. He made slow steps through, trusting Mila given her instincts and talent. What ever it was. They could handle it.Surprisingly..as he focused more on tapping into the nether, he felt his headache slowly subside. He didn't know if that was good or...
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Post by Mila on Jul 14, 2015 19:27:44 GMT -6
"Well, I'm glad your thinking about it. Last I checked I'm was the only one with the creepy monster hunting fetish. Rest of the family are regular mercenaries." She joked then prepared herself. Monsters can sneak up on a person very easily had to be prepared for everything. She gave horse a pat on the head. Although she wasn't fullly acquainted with the creature to the extent as Drei was. The horse did seem to be used to her presence. She followed behind Drei. Then slowly walking behind him at first then in front of him. She wanted to take the lead on this since this was more her thing.
Her steps were slow and quiet. The last thing she wanted to do was attract a horde of monsters. Mila's eyes narrowed slightly. She had seen this all before. To a point where she was desensitized to the destruction and sentimental items that were strewn about. The smell of dead flesh lingered in the air. But yet there was something more something heavier that she couldn't quite put into words. The air of evil she supposed or the air of whatever magic created the monsters. It's like miasma. She peeked through the broken windows of the villages for any signs of movement.
"...Hey..." She whispered to Drei. Then pointed out to a small grey huddled mass of something by one of the burning homes. There was only one of them so far Mila wondered where the other ones were. Where they were hiding... Mila stopped. She noticed something wrong with the shadows they casted. They were two people, but three distinct shadows.
"Behind us!"
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Post by Drei on Jul 15, 2015 5:25:47 GMT -6
Drei had focused so intently on trying to notice what it was that Mila pointed to, that he hadn't noticed the approach. Nor had he even heard them coming. The rush of air behind him and the mage's warning was just enough. Drei ducked forwards instinctively, shifting his wait and rolling forwards while pivoting to face the direction behind him as he did so. When he dipped forwards there was the distinct sound of cloth and fabric ripping as a zombified hand sundered part of the Shaman's cloak. Extending his palm towards the zombie, the boy's fingers pulsed with the wispy tendrils of Elder Magic as he cast his Flux Spell he'd been preparing.
The orb of nether energy twisted and swirled into the air before dropping to the ground like a mass of sentient shadows and slithered towards the zombie. Tendril like segments rose upwards to reconfigure into their spherical inspiration and quickly condensed into a blast of Elder Magic. Black and white bursts resonated from the zombies body when the spell fully contacted and combusted. The creature's body flailed wildly..but it did not end it. He didn't know if they were resistant to Elder Magic, or perhaps just that much stronger than he. However the sudden monsterous groan of the zombie seemed to not only break the silence. It grabbed the attention of others. More than they had seen as well. From three of the houses the distant sound of groaning started to grow. Shuffling corpses began to filter out and the others in the distance make their way towards them.
Drei darted his gaze back to the one before them before he looked to Mila. He would do his best to stay alive..but he would follow her lead. She had more experience in this field than He, and he knew they'd do far better sticking together. He extended his hand as he conjured dark energy to it once more. Almost instantly this time, a sphere of raven black magic flared up. Drei started focusing on refining and condensing the magic while crouched, poised to move if he had to. He wouldn't let that little jump-scare hit him again. That had almost been a horrible experience for him personally. "Why do I get the feeling that Elder Magic is going to be less effective against them?"
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Post by Mila on Jul 15, 2015 8:56:44 GMT -6
Mila quickly jumped to the side to avoid the fetid claw of the zombie. While Drei's flux tome was doing it's job against the creature behind them Mila focused her attention in front of them. The huddled mass of flesh she pointed out before hand stood up and began making it's way to them. The mage quickly cast a ball of fire out towards the animated corpse's head. She hit it's face causing the remains of it's formerly human hair to catch fire. The zombie didn't seem to mind it much as it continued it's pacing out over to them. She fired another ball of flame, this time hitting the remains of a wall. This collapsed onto the path before them which gave them a bit of a buffer between the oncoming horde and the zombie behind them.
Mila turned around to see that the zombie Drei shot at was still moving. The mage had a third ball of fire condensed into her hand and threw it into the zombie's chest. It was enough to have the creature fall down onto the ground and succumb to the flames. She was breathing heavily.
"Come on we have to keep moving. See If we can find a place with higher ground. Or a roof we can attack from." The living dead usually have problems climbing up things.. but these guys.. they look like they have been transformed recently.
"If you think it's going to be a problem try to aim the magic to their legs. Keep hindering their movements until I can hit em with fire." She scanned around and found one house that was not on fire.
"Over there!" She pointed at it. It was a bit of a walk but she felt that the both of them can get there.
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Post by Drei on Jul 15, 2015 10:53:44 GMT -6
Magic of the most foul variety swirled at Drei's finger tips. As he held the condensed sphere, he knelt to further speed up his focus. Energy twisted and pulsed with a cold vibrant nether, as if pulsing with its own heartbeat. Drei blankly gazed over the now burning fiend as it fell. He turned his head as he looked over at thet freshly made flame covered barricade. As Mila quickly located a building to move to, Drei got up and sprinted with the mage. He kept his right hand off to the side, so that the black convulsing orb of murky shadow would not contact his own body.
Boot-steps echoed through the wooden house as he ran into the building only to look around. He saw stairs, and knew they either led up to a second floor which meant accessing the roof; or a balcony..which meant accessing the roof. To ensure however, that they'd be safer for a time he followed Mila's example. Once she'd run into the building, Drei lifted his hand and launched the orb outwards. he raised his other hand and sculpted the energy as he manipulated inky black shadows to burst at the inner wooden segments of the door. Wood groaned and creaked before he funneled another burst of energy, collapsing the front of the house slightly. Wooden boards and planks erupted and tumbled down blocking the door with a chunk of the upper ceiling blown out from where he'd done it. Though the entirety of the houses front was still in-tact, a potion of the upper roof had been blasted out and was now piled up block the doorway. Drei turned and nodded at Mila, feeling a bead of swear tracing down his forehead while he lifted his hand to start channeling more magic into his palm. "We've got this."
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Post by Mila on Jul 15, 2015 12:58:01 GMT -6
Mila panted once inside the hose. She held her side for a moment. There was a light pain throbbing comming from her side. Stupid stitch in my side. This is no the time for you! She gritted her teeth for a moment then looked around. Drei had managed to collapse the entrances.
"Good. That'll slow them down a bit." She looked around as she slowly got up.
"How you holding up?" She asked. She was trying to keep herself calm. If she could keep herself calm she can keep a firm grasp on the situation.
"I'm fine." As fine as I can be for being kinda trapped in a house with zombies wanting to devour our flesh. The sarcastic voice in her head chimed in.
"Just.. Peachy." She muttered before firing a fourth ball of flame through a window and onto a zombie's head. She went to the opening and toppled over a nearby cabinet to block that enterance. She knew it wasn't going to hold them forever. She got up and made her way up towards the second floor. There were beds here, a ladder, and a table. Mila poked her head through another window to get a better look outside. From here she could actually start counting the number of monsters that were around. She counted five at the moment trying to make their way into the home. There was a rhythmic pounding to the walls as they tried to force their way through any weak points in the wood. Two more zombies were looming in the shade of another two houses.
"There are about seven un-dead." She spoke and waited for Drei to join her on the second floor.
"Destroy the stairs. Then catch your breath. Were going to be up here for a while." She cracked her knuckles. From her bag she grabbed a bottle of fruit nectar mixed with water. She took a sip of it and then offered the rest of it to Drei. The sweet liquid started to perk her up and re-hydrate her.
"It'll help deal with the exhaustion." She put the bottle on the nearby table and formed a fire ball in her hand. She used her free hand to hang on to the window frame then launched the ball of fire down at the monsters below. She took great care to avoid hitting the house they were in with the fireballs.
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Post by Drei on Jul 15, 2015 18:41:39 GMT -6
The sudden bumps and scuffling noises were slightly muffled. Drei shifted his gaze to them as he felt his pulse begin to quicken. His heart-rate went up, hammering within his chest as he attempted to center himself. Despite his racing heart-rate, he slowed his breathing. Deeper inhales. Slower exhales. As he eased his breath, he lifted one of his hands to gaze towards the sounds of banging and scuffling. For a brief moment, he tapped into the nether further. He gazed into that murky void. He extended his hand and drew from its vast well of power. Swirling pools of abyssal energies heeded his call, and he beckoned more as the air around him grew colder. Heavier. Traces of the air around him turned pale similar to a negative image. The sphere of Flux energy was far larger than others.
Drei turned and walked up the stairs, taking long strides but slower ones. The strain of working the Elder Magic was enough to slow him down that much, as if weighed down by a great weight upon him. His fingers twitched as they curved like he was clutching a ball within his hands, the black and white whispy ashen energy forming an inky orb. When he reached the top of the steps, he lifted his hand. As he did so, the shaman's robes billowed and for a moment flailed as if caught in a gust of wind. He launched the sphere of energy at the stairway, and a thunderous crashing of obliterated wood echoed out with intense rumbling vibrations from the impact. The weightlessness in contrast to the encumbered nature not moments prior took him by surprise as the shaman fell backwards onto his rear. His breathing now somewhat labored as he lifted an arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. He spoke with a breathless tone as he gazed at his work.
"Consider it broken.."
He stood up shakily and grasped at the bottle with trembling fingers. Mentally there was a growing throb once more, which he stiffled by extending a hand to configure another sphere of nether magic; albeit a far weaker one than that which he'd just conjured. His fatigue was setting in fully from the toll of that small demolition skit; and though her water did revitalize him somewhat, he was able to stretch his legs out some and move to a window. Unfortunately his next spell would take time to charge. Luckily....with the stairway now a rubble pile of planks blown to bits, he knew it would be unlikely they could get to them, if even at all.
"I don't think they'll get to us easily..but I suppose this might take a while. "
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Post by Mila on Jul 17, 2015 11:31:42 GMT -6
Mila pulled her head back in form the window to rest. She leaned her back to the wall and watched Drei destroy the stairs with a flux spell. She sighed. She steadily started to do some controlled breathing to help deal with the exhaustion. The sweet water helped by providing some sort of supplemental energy. If she had to guess Drei was probably just as if not even more tired then she was. If she recalled correctly elder magic was a hard subject to control. Much more powerful and unruly then light or anima magic. She shook her head lightly.
"How.. you holding up?" She asked again with a bit of concern to her voice. Drei had exerted a lot of energy in controlling the flux spells.
"No headaches?" She asked as she let out another breath. She focused a bit more and had a ball of flame in her hand. She hung out form the window again and thew the ball of fire. A zombie fell to the earth engulfed in flames. She pulled her head back in again.
"Okay... Six.. un-dead." She was starting to feel the strain.
"I.. haven't.. seen the leader yet. Th..there is always one zombie that's.. stronger.. who guides them. They have.. some sort of intelligence." She shook her head.
"Which is.. unsettling." She conjured another ball of flames and struck down another zombie. Though she didn't kill that one. Their time in this home was limited as eventually one of the zombies was going to tear down a wall.
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Post by Drei on Jul 20, 2015 6:38:17 GMT -6
He leaned with his back against the wooden wall. He could feel the stiff planks roughly groaning a bit in protest from the particularly loose board he must have chosen to lean upon. Ashen hair was matted slightly to his face as he extended a hand to his forehead for a moment. Fingers massaged his temples in an attempt to relieve some of the pain that plagued him. He took slow deep breaths. Long inhales and soft exhales as he tried to center himself. His heart was racing, his lungs burning and each breath felt like he was taking it underwater.
His other hand roughly pressed to his knee, knuckles white from strain as he tried to maintain an upright poise. While he panted, he felt himself starting to grow a bit fatigued beyond traditional. A lack of sleep. Lack of nutrients. All of it sneaking up on him slowly. Visions blurred before he shook his head and re-focused. Clarity returned and his gaze sharpened. Everything became so much more vibrant in contrast to moments prior.
Drei looked to Mila with a sheepsih, half grin and weak smile even before shaking his head negatively and speaking as he forced himself to walk towards the window. He needed to stretch his legs. He needed to keep moving. If he didn't keep pushing himself, he'd never get enough strength to overcome this. "No headaches that are too much to bare atleast."
He extended his hand outside the window as he let small whisps of darkness conjure at his finger tips. As long as these things couldn't climb, he'd have time to slowly conjure the energy and do so with far less risk. Drei slowly drew at the magical reservoirs within his body. He grinned a bit towards the groaning shuffling corpses while he shook his head. Perhaps it was his weary state that left him grinning. Maybe sleep deprivation. Some how. For some reason. This situation didn't seem as horrible as it should have. He listened slowly. One of them was shuffling about the house. No doubt trying to divine a way to reach them. Luckily, there wasn't really a way with him having blown the stairs. As for getting down well..they'd figure that out later.
"Well..the smart one is the one that'll start banging on this door before we know it I suppose. So I suppose We should not be surprised if we have someone interrupt our resting so rudely. "
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Post by Mila on Jul 21, 2015 20:44:44 GMT -6
Mila leaned her head on the wall. Her head was pounding and her vision was starting to blur. She closed her eyes for a moment as Drei spoke and eventually made his way over to her.
"Wonder if the zombies would let us make use of those beds." She put her hand to her forehead. Her phrasing of the words could have been taken the wrong way. Mila wasn't fully coherent of her thoughts. The fatigue and lack of sleep was starting to show through her her speech and body language. Part of her wished she had stayed in Santaruz for a bit longer.
"My head feels like someone threw it into a whirlpool. It'd be nice to take a nap. Don't think I want to wake up to a zombie giving me a love nibble though." She glanced back out the window. The zombies were still shuffling around. Now there was the sound of knocking and banging happening towards the door.
"Hmm.. Glad.. your headaches are gone. Er.. well at least.. more manageable. Welcome to a small glimpse of my life by the way. I've a partner for my monster hunting. Her name is Yorick.. while I handle the monsters with magic she handles them with weapons. Lots and lots of weapons. In.. hindsight.. perhaps both of us jumping in might have been a bad thing." She closed her eyes again. She looked like she was asleep given her position. Just a few more minutes. Another bang followed by breaking wood. She sighed softly and opened her eyes again.
"Sweet heart.." She made a sarcastic comment.
"Would you be a sweetie and take care of the guest at the door." She eventually pulled herself up and looked out the window.
"Right.. break time's over." She muttered before conjuring a ball of flame. She kept the ball of fire in her hand before she launched it at the same zombie she hit before. This time it fell to the ground dead.
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Post by Drei on Jul 23, 2015 9:46:15 GMT -6
"Wonder if the zombies would let us make use of those beds."
Was that something normal people said to one another? He wasn't sure. It didn't seem normal. Then again...was he really able to hold a standard to his opinion and normal? Drei shifted his gaze back to the door as he eased his eyes shut. He spoke with a tone that implied his level of thought while his fingers opened and closed. Traces of whispy darkness continued to grow around them while he responded. "We could try..but I doubt they'd give us enough time. " Like flames erupting to life, the murky orbs of the flux spell ignited into life by his grasp. He tightened his grip as he manipulated the magic.
Drei moved closer to the door, and began to empty his mind to further enhance his speed at gathering Elder Magic to him. "Well, I don't think it's so bad just yet. Tiring a bit maybe, but I don't think it's anything awful. Ha..maybe you just make it fun and it is actually miserable work? Though..sadly I don't come toting a bunch of weapons. Just some elder magic and a few horrible jokes at bad times I suppose. But then agai-"
The banging at the wooden barricade downstairs as the monster managed its way through drew their attention. Drei huffed a bit in frustration before he tilted his head. Small pops as the bones realigned rippled out while he nodded at Mila's request. Drei extended his palms and began to quickly condense the energy he had mustered. As the raven hued magic swirled around his hands, he nudged the door open with his foot and slowly stood at the broken gap where there had once been stairs. Sure enough, floundering about over the pile of debris was one of the zombies. Lifting a hand, the snowy haired shaman launched the orb of void magic towards the husk of a figure and blasted it with the rough force and impact. As he launched it, he rose his other hand to blast the other. He grinned, seeing the zombie topple over its back before staarting to rise again.
Oh right. Dark magic. Wellll..this would take a tad longer than planned.
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Post by Mila on Jul 23, 2015 20:44:15 GMT -6
Mila started to concentrate. She had been watching Drei cast his flux tome's for a while now and knew how he operated. He liked to concentrate the dark whips of nether magic into his palm before manipulating the inky black magic to the ground and up out to his foes. The mage looked over his shoulder to see the zombie he had hit with the spell topple over only to stand again. Mila did not want to hit the structure of the house with her fire ball so she decided to try something new. The mage had been practicing how to turn her balls of flame into different shapes. So far she had learned how to manipulate the flame into basic shapes like a triangle or square.
The orb of fire that hovered over her hand began to flicker and take a new shape. She tried to imagine how a spear of flame would look. First she started with a simple triangle then slowly began to elongate one side of it. Until it resembled something like a small blunt cone, she could feel her head pulsating, as she tried to keep the shape of the flame steady. She got up looked down at the zombie that was shuffling down below them and fired the coney shaped flame. The fire hit the zombie in the chest before dissapating into the air. The strange spear shaped worked for a moment. As now there was a sorch mark on the dead flesh that resembled something of a vortex. She was panting softly now. She was very close to hitting the limits of her magic before she would need to go into a more forced rest. Mila began to concentrate another ball of flame. This time she was trying to manipulate it into smaller dart like flames. Perhaps the smaller size would help better her aim and put less strain on her casting.
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Post by Drei on Jul 24, 2015 6:20:55 GMT -6
They had an advantage at the moment. The inability for the zombies to get them, meant that they could handle killing some and resting for a time before going back into the fight. However...if this "smarter" zombie was a notion..they'd need to clear them out as fast as they could. Drei slowly let both his hands extend as the twin murky orbs ignited into palpable form. Swirling figures of tainted essence which he drew from the void itself. The ashen haired Shaman took a moment to stride towards the edge of the stairs as the zombie shuffled around. He turned to look at Mila. She was busy at the window. Good. She wouldn't see this.
Drei emptied his mind of even the most basic thought save that which guided him via instinct. Unlike the zombie, he was smart enough to get back up the blasted stairs by climbing up the broken wood like a platform. When the zombie lurched to the side, in a blind flailing effort to make progress; Drei leapt off the perch of broken stairs. Wooden planks tumbled aside as he landed and hopped back to avoid the fetid claw which cleaved through the air in an attempt to bring him down. The shaman lifted his palms upwards as the smoke like essence swirling around the orbs rushed inwards. It began to swirl around and condense the twin spheres before Drei's Flux spells began to grow more powerful. Each moment the built up essence was greater than the last, and despite the strain on his body he continued to channel this. He lifted his palms upwards and pressed them together to fuse the smaller orbs into one larger one.
The larger orb hovered between out stretched hands as Drei let the murky sphere break apart into tens of small tendril like shadows which plunged into the ground before moving along its surface like sentient shadows. It rose up around the zombie after a brief moment while the groaning creature approached. A large combustion of nether energy warped its image for a moment before it suddenly flailed and fell to the ground.
The zombies withered husk lay idle for a moment as the spell corrupted and ate away at destroyed flexh. Then...after a brief lurch...it fell. Finally re-dead. Drei was panting. He was tired. But his foe, was vanquished. He lived still, and was in no imminent danger.
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