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Post by Remus on Jan 15, 2017 16:12:50 GMT -6
The height of battle had him ignoring the effects of the desert. His sprinting had alone prompted a series of small bead sized droplets to trickle down the tips of his bushy blue hair. The silken threads messily clinging to his forehead and his cheeks flushing while a series of small sweat drops trickled down his chin to the desert sand. Evaporating before they ever touched the ground he assumed, because it felt sweltering even if his mind was firmly on the fight. The scorching desert heat was one thing that he felt, but he could not attest to the searing burn of bolts of light as he continued to lift and guide his hand. Volley by volley, sending barrages of fat small light darts towards the scorpion's side and pelting it. Until, that was, Nayru was sent sprawling by the stinger. For a brief moment he instinctively reached out to her and shouted.
"Nayru!!"
His fear for naught though, as she got up unhindered. His barrier, much to his joy, seemed to be doing its job. The priests own wards still swirling around him like a strange otherworldly glisten of light encasing his skin. The priest quietly let the concern wash away though as Nayru rushed once more. Hearing her shout out her idea, and nodding in affirmation before shouting back.
"You got it!"
So, purge it was.
The priest lifted up his right hand while lowering his staff to the side. His eyes shut and he let the world fade to darkness around him. All sounds became white noise as he tried to dredge up that familiar notion. The desire to protect through retribution and retaliation. Divine judgment. The desire, to purge. The priest wasn't experienced enough at it yet to simply evoke the necessary righteousness in an instant. He had to build it. So slowly he began to speak, putting his absolute faith in Nayru's ability to keep it distracted while he called upon the pure ethereal magics he'd learned to wield. His voice was quiet, as he needed merely speak for self and to guide his will and drive.
"Like Elimine, who's path I walk, allow me the power of judgment. Let the wicked stand before the righteous."
It started like a faint breeze. Small granules of sand caught in the magical wind around him. A bright brilliance beginning to burn within his hand. His flesh alight with an inner incandescence of holy might. His hair jostling as if caught in a small wind, the priests entire body began to permeate the light magic he was still attempting to master. That powerful essence burning hotter and brighter. Turning his location upon the sand into a blot of light as his body ran alight with Elimine's favor. His words becoming more emphasized and punctuated. As if he spat the words firmly, but began to relate them to himself. Which he did. He had sought this magic, so he could protect is friends.
"Let the wicked stand before the righteous...and be purged in holy fire."
The magic was like a pulse. Like a miniature detonation that disrupted the sand around him as the blue haired Etrurian called upon this magic more fervently while sweeping his palm outwards and shouting as he felt the rush of power filling his veins.
"Nayru! The moment you get away from it, I'll hit it! But you need to step away!"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 15, 2017 21:22:14 GMT -6
Remus's response was music to her ears; Nayru couldn't help but grin like a huge retarded child as she dug her heels into the sand and ran, feeling the soft give of the terrain as she kicked up bursts of sand behind her. There was no real art in her approach, but the power pulsing through her body was as intoxicating as ever when not 'wasted' concentrating it in one spot for a shift, and besides, she was having fun. Nayru didn't even want to think what the her of ten years ago would have thought in response to that notion, but it was true nonetheless; someone she trusted supporting her in a fight, a dangerous but not overwhelming foe that could take a hit or two, and the ability to, ah, take out a bit of stress on the poor creature. She wasn't sure whether to feel bad for the scorpion or thank Remus for promising to end its pain swiftly.
In the meantime, she had a job to do. While injured, the scorpion was still pretty obviously in one piece, and not THAT seriously injured. Whether or not it was actually intelligent, too, it had certainly figured out that food was fighting back. The crashing clash of the pincers together, each clawed arm opening and closing as it charged forwards unto combat, signaled its readiness. But she was getting into it now too, the rustiness of not having fought since the sparring with Shara wearing off; slight sparks of electricity followed the bronzed dragon's every step, burning bright in flickering flashes across golden scales as she charged.
Moving as if to face it head on the same as her first attack, at the last moment Nayru dropped under the grasping claw, sliding through the sand with eyes kept peeled for what was above her. Probably for the best; the creature was catching on quickly too, and she had barely passed the first claw before she was already rolling to the right, the drooling tip of the weaponized tail slicing through the sand she had just been lying on. In turn, it too was already moving, using the less used left claw to shield its face from the assault she had been pursuing.
But this time Nayru wasn't there at all, her right first slamming into its spindly front right leg with enough force to rip it off instantly; the severed appendage twitched and spasmed on the desert sand as the scorpion stumbled backwards, flailing as it tried to make space between them. The beast was tough, but every enemy had a weakness - something she had learned the hard way herself back in Bern, when even her new dragon form still couldn't stop the chimera's lethal tail. What WAS it with her and fighting crap that had murder tails, anyways?
From her position somewhat inside its guard, Nayru pushed the advantage, launching an uppercut to the creature's, well, underside that pushed its whole front end a foot or two off the ground. But again, a blow that would have ripped a normal foe apart only cracked its tough plating, not so much puncturing it as weakening it enough for a follow-up blow, but the mess of twisted legs stabbing every which way made it difficult to repeat the same strike twice. It only took a moment off guard to be struck in the back by one of the legs, and despite the fact that it wasn't an attack, their size and strength was still enough to knock her down and leery for a second, enough time for the creature to get out from over her, and that meant they were fighting on its terms again.
This time it used the back end of its right claw like a mace, bringing its prodigious strength to bear once more, and while Nayru interceptepted it successfully the sheer force of the strike pushed her back and ruined an immediate counterattack just long enough for another tail strike. The damn thing moved too fast for her to catch it, it was just like a loaded crossbow that fired a bolt that... un-fired itself... ok yeah she didn't have a good simile for that, and she was too busy trying to avoid it to think about it. Even with her movement though, it slid down her arm, barely detached from the scales by the straining barrier, but was gone again before she could do anything.
This... wasn't getting anywhere. She COULD kill it, given time, but it was incredibly slow going, much as the chimera fight in Bern had gone, once again - it just had too many ways to hit her, and while she could easily deal with one or two at a time, upping the number, especially well coordinated, was a struggle. Without the barrier she would already have taken a couple hits, probably not serious but enough to do some damage. She didn't have time to watch Remus to see exactly how he was doing, but in her frenetic motion she had seen glimpses of him casting, something big, and she just had to trust that he'd get it sorted out soon.
In the moment, though, it was just her and king Jackassasaurus Rex over here, and he seemed piiiisssed. Again the claw came at her, this time the left claw, open for another crushing attack, and this time she dashed into it to try to throw the creature off and ruin its followup, her fully transformed arm slamming into the blades with a burst of electricity that broke both and left her with the scent of burning flesh. The creature screeched in pain, and she turned to face it agai-the tail hit like a thunderbolt, shattering the remnants of the barrier as though they had never existed in the first place. Even moving as fast she was, as quick as she was at reinforcement, she could still feel the razor's edge of the appendage drawing a lover's caress across her cheek as she angled her head away from the strike.
She didn't see the right claw coming, but could read the signs in the creature's posture enough to barely have her reinforcement up there before it struck, though in her current state she was in no condition to stand her ground; again using the limb as a club, it sent Nayru flying with trivial ease, one hand clasped to the right side of her face as she tried to arrest her motion on two legs and the remaining arm. Remus had said something, right? crap. Was that blood or the creature's... poison? Was it poison? There was something wet on her face.
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Post by Remus on Jan 15, 2017 22:00:40 GMT -6
Remus felt his veins pulsing. As if his heart-beat traversed and emanated from his entire being at once. At this point, he was practically a human light-source and he felt the overwhelming rush of holy magic's power infused within him causing him to feel as if his body was taut magically. Stretched to a bursting point. Such a sensation was like the way of knowing his magic was ready. When he felt fit to burst, or as if he might rupture. The burning palm of the young Etrurian stretching out while he felt a quiet fury build at the sight of Nayru being injured. That tail stab? He'd seen it. Deep within, behind repressed layers of smile and kindness, there was a faint stir.
He was after all, human. He cried. He smiled. He bled. And, he got angry. The priests gaze narrowed and he lifted his palm skywards as this anger swept over him. As if every repressed thought of aggression or fury had welled up into one torrential burst from broken damn gates. Oh how it flooded. Remus let that just anger flow. For anger at the harm of friends was certainly a just and righteous fury. A sensation he needed to fuel his holy magic. The air detonated when the final "fuse" lit. Nayru sent sprawling. Remus, for one of the rare moments in his life, scowled. Light infused within his gaze and his body engulfed in holy magics brilliance, he unfurled clenched fingers into an open palm. The sand burst around him with singular motion as if a bubble of energy expanded outwards before the light shown brighter than ever before. The instant she was away from him, and lowered his palm level to the beast.
A single ray descended from the heavens. A beam of light so thin, and like such a sliver that it would barely have been recognized, much less felt. Such a gentle thing...like the priest himself traditionally. And like the priest currently, the beam changed. In fractions of a second, that tiny beam gave way as a thunderous explosive force shook the ground and a deafening roar traversed outwards while the beam came down in full force. The fury of his magic. Light with enough pressure to instantly bring the creature to it's...did it have knees? It was f*cked. That was all that mattered.
The colossal pillar of pure and concentrated light magic was large enough to engulf a large portion of it's central carapace. Divine magic bringing forth ultimate retribution while shaking the ground even to Remus's distance though ever so faintly with the sand dampening the kinetic force greatly. The skywards beam lasting for almost three full seconds, before it ended. Three seconds, of the light magic crashing down upon it with that same force and consistent power to briefly burn a crater beneath it and a heat that left small fragments of the sand as a near glass structure like substance. The priest was panting as he released the spell. Not from the pressure. No, he was surprised how much stamina he still had left. He was winded from his excitement. How angry he was. Wielding light magic, and the emotions behind it were still fairly strange to him and something he wasn't used to.
As the flow faded from his eyes and body, Remus turned to Nayru. Unsure if she was definitively injured, he lifted his staff and quietly began to tend her wounds. Longer range healing was no where near as difficult for him as it had once been. Though unbeknownst to him, his staff's innate power also imbued her with smaller layers of reinforcement. Building a faint barrier around her as his own had prior, while the warmth flooded her to heal her aches and cuts or scratches.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 15, 2017 23:05:14 GMT -6
Hoooly crap. Remind her not to run into a pissed off Remus in a dark alleyway. Nayru was no stranger to incredible firepower, especially given her own unique form of dragonbreath, but there was a difference between knowing and SEEING, and Remus had definitely blossomed into a legitimately impressive magic user. It might sound a bit silly, but she had never actually seen a powerful mage in action - and she had met f**k**g Athos, just, er, not in a fight. For a long time she had kinda just assumed that human mages were shitty Manaketes, not that she really knew that much about what truly powerful manaketes were aside from Erim and that was, um, not really a fair comparison.
As her impressed initial reaction waned, though, the twinge of pain in her face sharpened, drawing a grimace and partially closed right eye from the dragon as Remus's little laser light show faded away, revealing only the boiling remains of the VERY obviously dead creature. A little part of her, the vindictive bitch who wanted revenge, crowed in victory. The rest just wanted to punch someone. It certainly took a little bit of the joy out of victory, though, to know acutely how many mistakes she had made along the way. Underestimating the creature right from the start, relying too heavily on Remus's barriers... she had played the game, but sloppily, and paid for it.
Though the familiar warmth of his magic coursing through her did help alleviate the pain, it didn't disappear entirely; the physical wound was gone but the phantom pain remained, the mind not quite caught up. Swearing under her breath, Nayru took her hand off her face anyways, surprised by how much blood there actually was there... more than there should have been, she thought, though she wasn't sure EXACTLY how deep the cut had been. Had there been something in the liquid on the creature's stinger? A poison? She hadn't... felt any strange burning, and Nayru thought that a weapon like that would have some kind of fast acting venom, possibly paralytic, for use in combat.
"...I think they have some sort of anticoagulant in their tails," the morose dragon sourly stated as she walked towards Remus, moving the skin on her right cheek experimentally to work through the lingering discomfort. "Hell of an attack, though. You've grown, Remus."
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Post by Remus on Jan 16, 2017 13:16:47 GMT -6
He was panting a bit, but just barely. His shoulders rising and falling as he inhaled that scorching air of Nabata. The priests body still thrumming with the vibrant pulse of magical augmentation that gave him a slightly exhilarating rush. As if his quickened heart-rate was going to keep climbing until it burst through his chest and tried to continue the fight for him. Which..was a horrible and slightly disturbing thought that made him bring his hand to his chest as if to reassure himself his heart wasn't actually going to rupture out of his chest. The priests gaze drifting to Nayru as her palm ran along her face and the blood that had been wiped off remained absent, meaning there was no longer a wound present to keep circulating fresh crimson fluids to stain her bronze complexion.
As she approached and tugged at her cheek experimentally the priest gazed in concern. Her words furthering this as the Priest clasped at his staff tightly in worry before leaning forwards.
"An..Anti-what? Is that like poison? Gah, do you feel strange or in pain or numb or dizzy or funny?"
Dismissing the initial mental response that she likely always felt funny, because though she considered herself a master of puns, and master of rhyme, he knew she wasn't going to be just fine. Not if she was poisoned. Or..was she? He didn't know if dragon's could even be poisoned. If she was mentioning it though then he could only surmise that she'd be suspectable. The priest lightly tugged at Nayru abruptly, hands clasping at her tanned cheeks lightly as he let worry over-take his sense of boundaries and began to furiously study her cheek where small smudges of crimson remained. He...couldn't...see any signs of physical flesh corruption or taint and was now instantly at a loss. He quietly stepped back though as her final remark finally processed, the priest sheepishly brushing his palm to his cheek then rubbing the back of his neck with an almost embarrassed expression at her praise. Small smudges of crimson "Nayru Blood" on his cheek and neck now from his palm, as the priest chuckled.
"AH..Eerrrr..haha thank you. I um...well I just want to be able to support you more really! So I'm glad it's helping more heh."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 16, 2017 21:04:57 GMT -6
"No, I, uh-" Nayru paused for a moment, physically shaking the cobwebs out of her head. She was pretty sure she wasn't seriously concussed or anything, but that fight had... really not gone as she had expected, start to finish, and she was still feeling a little confused about that. Emotionally distraught, even, to play the part of the court jester and hyperbolize a tad! Seriously though, that had been incredibly sloppy, to the point of outright suicidal, and she was far more angry at herself than the scorpion. If not for Remus's aid, she might actually have been seriously injured.
"...Sorry, I'm not all here today," she admitted with some level of frustration evident in her words. "Got a lot on my mind. But no, an anticoagulant is just a tool some predatory species use to keep blood from, well, coagulating - used to bleed out prey. Dragons tend to have pretty high resistance or immunity to most natural poisons, so it's not generally a concern, but with monsters it never hurts to be sure... though I didn't get the feeling those things were ordinary Nether-tainted monsters. They reminded me more of Vinland's creatures - just over-sized animals looking for food. But no less dangerous for it." She couldn't help but touch the now-vanished cheek injury one more time, smearing a little red back on the cheek. Dammit. She was never gonna get used to this healing crap. Nayru couldn't deny how useful it was, but it didn't feel right to just trivialize these minor injuries.
Also a scar would have been cool, her inner 13 year old girl unhelpfully supplied.
"It's just... weird. Being healed," she added, by way of explaining the fragment of a sentence. "I fought sloppily back there. Can't get too used to having you around. I never knew magic was so versatile, or powerful." Amidst the myriad emotions filling her today, two that didn't come up often were floating around. Jealous was the first. She wasn't proud of it, but it... did remind Nayru of her eternal frustration with the limits of her abilities. Hypocritical perhaps, given that many humans would doubtless prefer super strength and the ability to delete basically anything she ran into if she transformed, but transforming was an act with severe repercussions, now more than ever. The other was respect.
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Post by Remus on Jan 17, 2017 15:25:43 GMT -6
Remus hadn't quote known what an Anticoagulant was, but then gain his specializations in the medical field were often man-induced injury. Weapons or magic. Until the recent insurgence of monsters the priest hadn't found cause to look into such. In-fact, the uncertainty about his ability to heal poisons worried him greatly. However he let that thought drift away, quietly looking to Nayru quizzically as she mentioned how much was on her mind. He was slightly leaning on his staff, gazing to Nayru further while studying her. Reading her as best he could while she explained dragon's immunity and the anticoagulants of nature. He tried to shelf that knowledge.
Though she brought up an...interesting point. He'd never considered it a negative side to be able to actively heal on spot but given the proximity of it, and how often him and Nayru had been fighting together of late perhaps she had a valid point. He couldn't just stand by and let her get grievously injured, but if she was always used to him mending her wounds as they appeared then she wouldn't feel the danger or caution that a fight warranted. He wouldn't be able to express his despair or disgust at the prospect that his clucking over Nayru's injuries resulted in her taking a life-threatening wound or crippling wound in which she would be far off for the worse as opposed to if he'd moderated his healing arts so as not to hinder her style of combat.
The priest clasped his staff a bit tighter than he meant, worry crossing his expression as he gazed past Nayru with his shoulders dropping slightly from a squared poise. His tone a bit quieter and the faintest crestfallen hint in it.
"I suppose...that's a good point. Maybe me being around every time you fight is a bit of a problem...um. Because you can't gauge something's threat if I keep showering you in barriers or tending your smallest wounds. Which could result in a major injury and um...yeah...ah..."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 17, 2017 21:06:44 GMT -6
Well, duck dicks. Witnessing Remus's consternation, Nayru immediately felt the guilt wash over her like an ocean of piss. Almost more defensive for him than herself, she brought her arms up immediately, placatingly, to try to redirect his feelings into more healthy channels; she hadn't even considered that he might take it like that, and given that she WAS grateful as all hell to him for saving her bacon, it made the situation all the more awkward. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to imply that I'm ungrateful for all you've done for me, Remus, you've probably saved my life a couple times now. It's just..."
The dragon trailed off, struggling to find the words to say what she meant. Not an uncommon issue for her, but all the more frustrating in this moment. GODS what she wouldn't give to actually be super intelligent. "It feels like I'm getting to rely on it too much. When I was in Bern, I fought... two things that were stronger than me. I can't afford to relax, to lose my edge, or next time I may not survive them at all." She grinned wryly. "And besides, I'm the kind of dumbass that needs a lesson beaten into my skull sometimes."
Her eyes furrowed as something hovered at the edge of the dragon's senses, but before she could react an explosion of sand and dust savaged the earth about twenty feet behind Remus, another hulking beast emerging in its wake. Larger than the first one as well, by another thirty percent or so, and she could hear the tremors behind her signaling more. Once more, Nayru found that she actually did not want to turn around and find out for sure, instead taking refuge in the one thing she knew.
"...Don't look now, but there's another one behind you."
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Post by Remus on Jan 17, 2017 23:28:40 GMT -6
As Nayru tried to alleviate his doubts and expressions of despair, the Etrurian Blueberry found a small smile spreading upon his expression. His visage altering as he began to take a bit more heart in her efforts. The priests staff lightly being guided as he lifted a hand from it to rub the back of his neck for a moment longer while thoughtfully taking a glance to the female dragon with a sheepish expression. He'd been so fixated on trying to help her, and trying to prove himself as an asset to Nayru that he hadn't expected to be hindering her in that way. Though, knowing she wanted him around despite this did give him a bit more confidence. He hadn't taken it in any way that she didn't want him around.
But at the same time there had been a concern that he was inhibiting her. Not slowing her down per say, but impeding her ability to maintain herself. It wasn't an angle of thinking he was used to nor overly concerned of in totality traditionally. In her line of work though...he imagined it was very essential, if not crucial to her life. He nodded quietly before speaking in a somewhat soft tone.
"I understand Nayru. I guess, I er...well I just wish I could be of more use. Maybe if I was better at something other than just healing? I dunno..."
Sure his light magic was a thing, but he didn't consider himself good at anything besides long range bombardment which took time and wasn't always practical. His thoughts torn however as Remus lifted his gaze at the mention of another "one" behind him. His mind instantly taking her drift and whipping around with a building look of fear that he felt was genuinely earned at the sight of a larger beast. Though magical wards still shielded himself he couldn't precisely know just how to well...prepare for a two pronged Scorpion assault.
"Er...I...am ready to be at Arcadia now Nayru..."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 18, 2017 0:33:26 GMT -6
The monstrosity behind Remus had emerged from the desert sand close to where the fallen scorpion's boiled corpse lay, and while she might be looking too far into it, Nayru felt like it recognized that in some way. It almost seemed as if the creature had chosen that spot intentionally, as though it was looking at the broken body, though she knew not why. Whatever the reasoning, it seemed less than pleased with the circumstances; after a pregnant pause it began to chitter loudly, almost screeching - a harsh, dissonant sound that almost immediately drove Nayru to wince from discomfort, a sonic outburst that was answered momentarily later by the one that was, yup, f**k**g behind her, she confirmed with a quick glance over her shoulder.
"Okay, okay. These new ones are just larger, stronger, and significantly angrier than the last one, and I can't protect you from both of them simultaneously. No big deal. This is fine." Nayru wasn't quite sure if she was trying to comfort Remus, make a shitty joke, or comfort herself, or maybe all of the above - she had a tendency to start talking when nervous, she was starting to realize, to handle stress through humor, and that was all well and good and such but it also wasn't going to magically kill the arachnerds for them.
So instead, she thought. How would they best handle this? It was clear that they could not simply repeat the tried and true tactics of the previous fight, or really all their previous fights - she had always used her durability and melee threat to distract foes from her companion, whether it had been Veigue or Remus, to allow them to make use of their offensive ability without being too hindered by their human fragility. Remus could probably take a hit or two with that Barrier thingamajig, but not a sustained assault. And of course, if she'd learned ANYTHING from the last fight, it was that these beasts were quite proficient at multiple simultaneous or consecutive attacks.
"...Hey, Remus, you ever hear of something called on the job training? Well, I hope you've been practicing that reinforcement crap we talked about, 'cuz you're gonna need it." She placed one hand on his shoulder reassuringly, smiling with slightly more enthusiasm than she was actually feeling. "Try to keep mobile, hit it when you can. I'm going to try to take one of them down. We're gonna have to play this one on the fly, once the fight starts we're not gonna have time to plan. Ready for your final exam, partner?"
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Post by Remus on Jan 18, 2017 10:43:47 GMT -6
Remus heard the horrid sound that the first scorpion emitted, and instantly winced at the precisely unique discomfort it brought. A second one a moment later when a second noise affirmed that both were in some aspect or notion of communication. He turned his head to gaze at Nayru while she was speaking. Perhaps a...poor idea essentially from how fast he'd seen the scorpions move prior but at the same time he had enough faith in her that she wouldn't let him get stabbed from behind. His gaze a mix of worry initially and concern, but visibly calming into a more resolute confidence as she spoke. Until he could turn to stare down the scorpion approaching with a more composed mindset. Sure, they were bigger and nastier but hadn't they fought similar already?
Not even just the scorpion prior. The deathgoyle in Bern was perhaps the fastest enemy he'd ever encountered. It'd been strong enough to make it the most deadly fiend bar the super monstrosities in the City of Heroes and the Arum fiend in Laus. So first off, he had to calm down. So the first step. Quiet breathing. Soft inhalations eased his quickened pulse as he tried to lessen the anxiety running havoc within him. The steadily growing series of thwumps falling in swift succession as the Arachnids approached the aceldama absent of ahimsa. His staff leveled quietly as he tried to take Nayru's tone with confidence. The priests mind channeled as he tried to further replicate that augmentation she spoke of. Still focusing on steady control. The energy built slowly at first. A tiny fragment of a breeze that swirled around the priest while softly pulsating orange light imbued the gem atop his staff. Thyrus imbued with that glowing gem now birthed a globe of permeating light that thrummed with a pulse like heartbeat before the energy echoed outwards and began to enhance Remus's body.
His limbs strengthened. His endurance rising while his stamina seemed to expand. His pulse quickened and his heart started hammering in his chest. Pupils dilating while his blood rushed within his veins. His muscles almost throbbing silently within as the magic infused them. The alteration of his pupils ultimately being the only visible change bar a slightly shocked more wild expression on him as he failed to hide his faltering composure at the sudden enhancement. His tone containing that shock and surprise why he responded.
"I'm ready Nayru. As ready as I'm going to be at-least..and..be safe. Yeah?"
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 18, 2017 16:34:07 GMT -6
"Yeah."There was more than just tacit agreement in that one word; a spectrum of emotion and meaning as she mentally took a step back from seeing him solely as something to protect into, maybe, someone that she could actually trust enough to stand on his own. The memories of the terrible battles they had been through, the danger they had survived, and the bond born of blood and sweat that had slowly developed in the interim. She wasn't entirely certain that his reinforcement (Strength, he called it) was perfect enough to be absolutely reliable, but... she had to at least trust him enough to believe that it would be. Remus would never truly grow on his own if all she did was protect him after all, though neither did that mean that she was just going to leave him to die in some sort of bullshit 'survival of the fittest' mindset either. With a last nod, Nayru swung around, dragging one foot in the sand slightly in a cloud of sand as she faced the beast that had emerged from behind her, leaving the other to Remus for the time being. No point in worrying now. Just focus on the fight at hand. Just do what you have to do to win. youtu.be/50FUkQB6YVI"RaaaaaaAAAAAGH!"Hurling her arms down to the ready position as she focused her essence, Nayru roared as her arms shifted rapidly, first to the bulky golden clubs that were her power form, then again as gold turned to black and crimson. The electricity in the air around her intensifying into shards of untempered fury that scathed the sand around her, her armored arms shrinking closer to their normal size as exponentially more and more magic flowed through them. Far more power than her basic shift and none of the speed loss - but significantly more draining, even for her. Just another incentive to finish up quickly. She charged with a massive burst of sand erupting into the air in her wake, the draconic power supercharging her body and coursing through her muscles like a flood; an intoxicating rush that affected the mind as much as the body, for better and worse alike. Not that it really mattered right now. She just had a fight to win, simple as that, and her target already in her sight. The overgrown scorpion apparently agreed, meeting her halfway; black met black as her right arm collided with the creature's own, followed by a focused shockwave of blackened lightning that pushed the creature back a step. She wasn't f**k**g around with this one, not after the last fight.
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Post by Remus on Jan 18, 2017 16:41:44 GMT -6
The energy infused in his body had his heart racing now. His eyes wide, and even though he was sweating profusely within the desert heat his mind seemed numb to it. As if the senses were on the most razor thin of edges and entirely aware but in a state of sensory overload. Even the act of slowly shifting forward in that sand, and leaning with his weight allocating to his knee, he was ready to race off. The blue haired Etrurian priests body still shimmered with that faint veil from before enveloping his body. His skin protected by a thin series of wards that layered around him like a magical suit of armor even if the most visible it got at any point was like a thin sheen around his flesh. This however could've also been interpreted purely as the sweat along his limbs and body in totality.
After all, it didn't take much to tell he wasn't native to the heat. Her heard Nayru's shout and instantly responded by quietly kicked off the ground with every ounce of might in his calves. He lunged as the scorpion approached, moving to the right at a fast enough pace that he was harder to hit and bolting safely away from striking range but still able to stay within striking radius himself. The giant barb like tail of the monstrous Arachnid swiftly struck as if to intercept, the priest just barely skirting its range as the colossal tail crashed into the sand with a muted thud and enough force to send an explosive plume of sand upwards while it ruptured the flat desert floor.
The Priest lifted his hand quietly as a series of pulsing lights began to dance around his palm. Commanded by his control of spiritual magics, his palm began to pulse before the winds kicked up around him and a small barrage of searing bolts bombarded the large Scorpion. It....seemed not to care nearly as much as the last though and lifted its colossal armored claws to obscure the irritation of them hitting its more vulnerable face while slowly moving towards the priest who fruitlessly continued his barrage. All the while, his eyes quietly drifting to the tail as he tried to figure out what actual options were present to her. A single thought drifted idly through his mind as an aside.
I bet Nayru's having the time of her life right now, while I sit here throwing sticks at it...
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jan 18, 2017 16:55:47 GMT -6
This time she knew to keep an eye out for the bladed tail, and was rewarded for it by NOT dying instantly when the living weapon came at her at an angle, bearing even more force than the last scorpion, enough to send shockwaves of force reverberating through her body and threaten to force her down just from the sheer impact of it hitting her fully shifted arm, but she gritted her teeth and forced it back just in time to meet the other pincer head on, barely recovered from the last hit. f**k! There was no time to recuperate and plan an actual manner of assault, this thing seemed both better coordinated and WAY more pissed than the last one, she could hardly get a thought in edgewise as it continued to press her.
Part of the issue now as well was that while Nayru had started to grasp limited control of her element in human form, it was still exactly that - limited. She could enhance punches and... not much else. Sure it LOOKED fancy but it was really just punching harder, and she needed more than that here. Something overwhelming, area-effect or armor piercing. Hm. Another tail strike that this time Nayru managed to avoid, skipping to the side and smacking it away from her as it missed, enough to weaken the retracting appendage but not enough to do any real damage.
God dammit to hell, she couldn't think of anything better, even if this was a shitty idea and she damn well knew it. She waited for the next domineering strike to hit, and rather than try to push back Nayru allowed herself to be pushed away, utilizing the scorpion's momentarily blocked sight to give her a moment of respite and distance. Rather than flee though, she felt the fire burning in her belly, the crackling buzz of light and hatred that consumed her as it rose before spewing out in a tightly focused beam of intense crimson light that seared the sand below it, crossing the gap between fighters almost instantly such that the beast only had time to raise one arm to block it. Or at least try to block it. The breath attack burned and singed everything in its path, eliciting a skittering shriek out of the creature as its arm was forced back glowing red, but the attack had already faltered out on her end and left Nayru reeling for a moment, heaving from a combination of exertion and pain as her raw throat burned in its passing.
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Post by Remus on Jan 18, 2017 19:24:30 GMT -6
The flashes of light where getting brighter from Remus'es perspective. That wasn't out of any heightened intensity or sudden increase in power though. The scorpion was slowly pedaling closer, less and less deterred by the mild inconvenience of the barrage while its claws barely registered the burn accumulating. An outer layer of chitin being burnt through at segments of it's left claw from the sheer volume of bolts it'd eaten up, but internal carapace still entirely unscathed. The priest held his ground for a few fleeting moments longer, increasing the intensity of the barrage as larger bolts burst against the armored claws before the flow ceased entirely. Remus turning on his heels as he saw the tail begin to rear back and dart further to the outer right in a larger looping circle. Another muted thud impacted the ground where he'd been standing just barely under a second after he managed to start moving. His limbs still infused with the energy to press him further.
He even felt small flecks of sand trickling down his shoulders as the plume like rain of sand came down upon him from the near-hit. What he did not expect though was the scorpion to lunge forwards before the colossal Arachnid swept it's right claw outwards. The base shell still hot from its burn wounds as it collided into Remus. The bulk of the force lost as his shielded body was sent flailing through the air. His left hand clamping down on Thyrus almost instantly as the monstrous limb crashed against him.
Well...certainly looks like I hurt that claw fairly we-oh god that's going to hit me isn't it?
The thought seemed to cross his mind almost instantly as it crashed into him with all the gentle force of a somewhat shittier Nayru punch. Which he could now attest to having felt the force of. The blue haired Etrurian priest shouted wildly while he tumbled a few times through the sand. Fully realizing just how awful it was to have sand in his clothes now before he manged to roll back up. The blue haired Priest lifting his staff before he starts sprinting to the side once more while trying to gain his momentum. Briefly lifting his hand as he began to envelop his body with more defensive layers. He could now firmly attest to greatly desiring never to endure that again.
The shriek of the scorpion. The flash of light as Nayru obliterated part of it with her devastating super death lightning plasma breath attack instantly drew his attention before the priest lifted his staff once more. The scorpion He'd been squaring off with now moving a bit faster as its interest in catching the slippery prey increased more so. A pulse of magic burned from Remus as he extended his palm. Light began to channel and imbue with him. Quietly, he gazed at it and took that faint moment to charge. He just needed distance, and he was beginning to become intimately familiar with how much distance.
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