The Battle

The battle begun so quickly Simon could barely keep up. The Varokians charged in together, their speed inhuman as they raised their weapons to cleave through the Hethorian battle line. Yet when their weapons swung, they tore only through the air, moving so fast that screeching of the air was audible even to Simon.

The space around the battle began to tear, the Hethorians teleporting out of place and instead appearing behind the Varokian party. They swung at the Varokian's backs but found themselves countered as they spun at inhuman speeds, their colossal weapons blurring as they batted away their opponents. The battle devolved into chaos from there, smaller groups separating into their own smaller skirmishes.

The axe wielding Varokians found themselves outnumbered, two men shifting across space and surrounding them from all sides, even as they used their speed to protect from the multi-directional assault.

The hammer wielding man found himself in a duel against a single Hethorian armed with a sword. He swung the hammer overhead in a flurry, not even a second between rise and fall as it tore open the ground around him. The Hethorian opted not to involve himself directly, trying to stay just outside of the Varokian's range while waiting for him to tire.

Sonia faced Ernhar, adopting similar tactics to the multi man groups. She didn't shift as much as her comrades but instead opted to attack only after Ernhar swung, paying close attention to his momentum and the direction of his strikes. Erhnar was easily the fastest of the group, and his weapon the largest, making matters worse, he was clearly the best of the Varokian fighters. Every attack would flow into the next, each swing designed to force Sonia into a single position around him.

Sonia was aware of his tactics, fighting patiently and never overcommitting. Ready to disappear before any parry could come her way. She was well aware his blade could snap both her and her sword in two more with a single strike.

The other fights were in similar stalemates, one side cautiously gauging their opponents capabilities while the other attacked with reckless abandon, well aware of the threat their larger weapons posed. The Varokians openings were numerous, but their speed was so unreadable that they never stayed vulnerable long enough even for a single swing.

Thea was quiet beside Simon, intently observing the battle, her eyes jumping from battle to battle, anticipating battle turning in any one sides favour. Simon tried to do the same, but found himself thoroughly overwhelmed by the blurring visuals beneath him.

It was one of the Varokians who found an opening first. Having ascertained a pattern in the sphere of blows surrounding him, he feigned an overhead swing before quickly spinning on his feet and bringing it flying in a ring around him. One of his opponents managed to get out of the path in time, but the other was not so fortunate, the axe tearing halfway through his torso before sending him flying into the ravine wall.

Simon panicked. "Shouldn't we help them!? They're getting overwhelmed!"
"Tsk, no chance, Sonia gave me my orders, and they haven't lost yet. And shut up already before they hear you!"

Sonia was still holding her own. She had purposefully left an opening in her attacks for Ernhar to exploit, teleporting directly behind him in response. Naturally, Ernhar had expected that and swung back, yet even as he was redirecting his strike, Sonia appeared above him, attempting to pierce his head. Ernhar roared as he redirected his swing yet again, but was too slow. The attack proved successful, cutting open the side of Ernhar's face, but failing to catch anything vital.

Meanwhile, the hammer wielders attacks had only grown more intense and had managed to disarm his opponent in their frenzy, sending the Hethorian scrambling backwards. Given even a moment to recover he would have been able to rearm himself, but the overwhelming strikes never gave him the opportunity, threatening to crush him if he ever took both eyes off of his opponent. The Varokian's triumphant battle cry carried to the roof as his flurry continued.

Thankfully, the victorious axe wielder had seemed to tire himself out in his attempt to defeat one of his assailants. He was certainly far from lethargic, but his movements had slowed, and gave his remaining opponent a chance to fight back effectively, slowly peppering the mans robes with cuts, tearing at what flesh was exposed. The bleeding only served to slow him further, and victory seemed comfortably in the Hethorian priests' grasp.

Simon turned his eyes back to the hammer. He was desperate to help somehow, he could clearly see his opponent was on the back foot, being forced back without a weapon to properly defend himself. Simon felt himself hesitate, the warnings from Thea and Sonia echoing in his mind, but he pushed past it. He wouldn't sit here doing absolutely nothing while his allies died down there. He reached out his hand and focused on the hammer, willing it to be brought to him. He heard Thea hiss in frustration but ignored her, ignored the combat itself, and brought his entire focus on the hammer.

Desperation briefly clouded his mind but he pushed it away, clearing his thoughts. Even as the other battles raged on, the hammer was all that remained in his consciousness. He felt the tug. Magic tore at the hammer, tearing it out of the mans hands and into Simon's own. He beamed in happiness for a moment before realising his mistake, the weight of the hammer was far too great for him to lift, almost pulling him down with it before he was forced to let go, sending it plummeting to the floor ground beneath.

"Oh for fu-" Thea began, before immediately shifting away, appearing high in the air close to the falling weapon. Simon could tell she had only a couple of second before she would hit the ground, and she had appeared too far away to reach for the hammer. She wouldn't be able to stop it revealing their position.

Thea didn't even try to reach for the hammer, instead she looked up and locked eyes on it before both disappeared simultaneously, landing with heavy thunks next to Simon. Thea didn't hesitate to slap him across the back of the head.

"You're an absolute idiot boss man. You're lucky I was here, not sure you noticed but that was falling right on top of Sonia, no idea what coulda happened. Now stop trying to help and watch." Thea pushed his head down hard and sat herself on his back. "Can't try anything stupid like this, can you. Good job though, look, saved our boys life."

The former hammer wielder lay collapsed on the floor, blood trickling in bursts from his neck. His opponent had evidently taken his shock as an opportunity to reclaim his weapon and strike home.

The weakened axe wielder hadn't gone down as easily as it seemed he would however, his fading strength proved a feint to make his opponent overconfident, allowing him to score a clean hit on him. The Hethorian wasn't dead yet, but was bleeding profusely, certainly unable to fight any longer. It was only the hammer's former opponent's intervention that kept him alive.

The other fights remained completely deadlocked, neither side managing to land any further hits on the other. Sonia maintained her dance, weaving in and out of every angle Ernhar had, but the man had sped up even further, not struggling to keep up with the myriad movements. The two had slowly moved their battle to the ravine wall, leaving Sonia at a disadvantage, the angles she could teleport to now limited.

Ernhar didn't hesitate to push his advantage, removing a hand from his weapon and tearing at the rock wall, simultaneously collapsing a segment of the wall down on her and launching a deadly hail of rock in a wide angle. Knowing her space for movement was now extremely limited, Ernhar supported the assault with a single handed attack behind him. Ernhar knew Sonia's only remaining option was above him, reaching out his now free hand and ripping her blade from her hands the very moment she appeared there. Caught completely by surprise, Sonia was slow to teleport away, allowing his other to drop his blade and shoot out a thunderous blow at her head, the impact sending her flying backwards across the ground.

Simon wanted to scream her name but controlled himself. He could see her moving, slowly standing again even as her helmet split in two, collapsing on to the floor beside her.

"You're that last Archbishop of theirs aren't you? Not a miracles chance a Bishop could have kept up with me for so long. But sorry Madame, I believe the game's at an end." He wiggled her sword in front of him before splitting it in two between his hands. He reached down for his own weapon and began to approach her again.

Sonia didn't move from her spot. She was hunching over, clutching her arm in clear pain; blood was trickling from her forehead into one of her eyes, forcing it shut. Simon couldn't see, but he knew the man was grinning as he lazily approached. Ernhar wasn't scared of her now, not with one arm unusable and her brain so rattled she could barely stand.

Simon felt the urge to scream again, or maybe to vomit, but Thea held him back, forcing his mouth shut with one hand forcefully under his chin. He didn't fight back, he couldn't think of anything else, unable to tear his eyes away. He kept telling himself he had to trust her, she'd find a way to win this, he knew it. He knew it. He knew it. He knew it, until the overwhelming blade again began to swing and cleaved the man in two.

Simon blinked, even in his desperation he was sure he had seen that wrong, sure that he'd blink again and Sonia would be lying on the floor. He blinked again. The two had switched places. Ernhar's body lay where Sonia had stood, his mouth was open in shock, his eyes bulging. The pool of blood beneath him was growing at an exponential rate. Sonia stood where he had, her pose unchanged and hear breathing laboured, her own drops of blood mixing into Ernhar's pool.

Sonia fell to one knee, turning herself toward the other battles, Simon himself having been so focused on Sonia that the others had left his mind entirely. Both of the remaining Varokians had been defeated, the axe wielder managing to defeat one of his two assailants before falling. The other was twitching even as the sword was being removed from his body.

Two of them had died, and two more were in critical condition, but the battle had been won.