Two more pieces to the Board part 2: Water and Gold

A portal tore open in midair and they stepped in

First was Archmage Kryxx, tall and lean, using the stones from the walls as stepping stones until landing on the top stair.

“Of course,” Kryxx said smoothly, his voice carrying across the chamber. “I should have known it would be you.”

“Good to see you too, Archmage,” Thomlin said, not lowering his staff.

Kryxx’s eyes narrowed. “Careful. The only reason you’re still standing is because I thought you were useless. But now that I know it was a farce…you will be expunged.”

A whoossh of wind cut him off.

Captain Velma dropped from the portal next, her purple braid swaying against the wind before landing softly.

“Such a mess,” she said glancing at the broken pieces of staircases. “We just finished cleaning up the Bronze after the last incident.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Thomlin said, rolling his shoulders. “Guess you’ll just have to put in a little overtime.”

“Still running your mouth,” Velma said, almost amused. “Good. Maybe today I can go all out.”

Rhennmar stepped back, golden sparks running down her arms. “You two took your time.”

“You were holding your own,” Velma said with a small shrug. “But Draken insisted. If he’s worried, then this Thomlin guy must be strong.”

“Enough!” Kryxx planted his staff against the stair. Vines formed attempting to cage the whole chamber around them. “We’ll end this swiftly.”

Thomlin’s grin widened. “Three against one, huh? That hardly seems fair.” He gazed at the abyss below as the vines slowly tightened, closing the ceiling like a jaw.

“There’s nowhere to run,” Kryxx said. “Accept your fate.”

“Maybe,” Thomlin said, water spheres rising around him, spinning faster and faster. “But it doesn’t mean I can’t fall.”

While Kryxx stared confusingly, Thomlin dived from the edge of the staircase into the blackness below.

Falling through darkness, he twisted midair and crossed his legs.

“Water art….Ocean of Deep Waves!”

The spheres around him burst into raindrops collecting below into a small pool catching him as he splashed down. The water then reverted into spheres again circling around him as he rose, soaked and smiling.

The abyss was wide and dark but he couldn’t see much.

He stood and waved his staff.

“Lumos Incendere!” flames emerged from his staff, sticking to the walls like candles illuminating the abyss.

The walls surrounded him in circular fashion, scribbled with faint glowing runes. Plates on the floors were squared like a chess board with runes engraved in each that pulsed in patterns he didn’t recognize.

Velma then dropped like a meteor, stopping midair so softly that her boots barely touched the floor. Her body was already blurring forward for a straight punch. Thomlin reflexively moved a water sphere between them. Her fist hit the sphere with such force it blasted a column of water skyward like a geyser.

The water slowly fell down in droplets.

Thomlin swung his staff , reforming the spray into a single sphere, slamming it towards Velma but the air bent, cushioning her as though she’d been wrapped in invisible cloth. She rolled forward, skidding on the wet floor before flipping upright.

“You’re slippery,” Velma muttered, grinning.

“Thanks.”

Kryxx descended more deliberately, stepping on disks of stone that formed from the wall with each gesture of his staff. His staff tapped the ground and instantly vines fell from above, writhing like serpents.

“Contain him,” Kryxx said simply.

Thomlin spun his staff low, summoning blades of water that cut through them. For every vine he cut, another replaced it, forming a net above him, closing the space tighter and tighter.

“You’ll have to do better than gardening tricks,” Thomlin called, hopping from one spinning floor-plate to another as if dancing.

“How’s this then,” Kryxx’s eyes narrowed as the next wave of vines glowed with runes sprouting spikes.

Thomlin evaded them, one spike grazing the bottom of his right eye, when Rhennmar swung in on one of the non-spiked vines landing a boot that knocked him backwards into the wall.

Velma immediately followed up, the air screaming as she closed the distance. Thomlin raised his staff, hitting the ground…

“Ignis Spiralis!”

A spiral flame unleashed towards Velma. She smirked and punched through, splitting it in half and catching him across the jaw with air-boosted backfist that sent him into the walls, sliding down.

“Much…better,” Thomlin coughed, staggering. Blood mixed with water as he wiped his mouth.

“You’ve got both fire and water runes…” Velma said taking off her coat to reveal her scarred, muscular arms. “…That’s awesome. You have my attention.”

She threw the coat down.

“Guess I can stop holding back now.”

“Likewise,” Thomlin said planting his staff.

Water surged upwards, forming a spinning sphere around him.

“Water Art….Seven-Tide Walz.”

Seven spears of compressed water shot forward at once.

Velma blurred, dodging the first two but the third curved midflight, clipping her shoulder and spinning her into the air. Kryxx slammed his staff into the ground, conjuring a wall of stone that absorbed the next volley — only for the water to drill through the rock a second later, forcing him to leap back.

Twisting midair, Velma used a burst of air to stop herself from crashing into the wall, then dove straight back down, breaking the sound barrier as she aimed both fists at Thomlin’s chest.

He froze the sphere into thick ice, her attacks blowing uselessly.

KRACK

Golden lightning sparked as Rhennmar struck the ground, shattering the frozen shield.

“Don’t forget about me,” she hissed charging.

Thomlin spun his staff, water twisting around him like a cyclone.

“I haven’t.”

He ducked under her strike, vaulted up trapping Rhennmar in a ring of water smashing her sideways into the wall. But as he landed, Kryxx’s vines erupted from the floor, grabbing his ankles and hurling him upward.

Velma was right behind him, riding an updraft like a wave caught him midair. The air twisted violently around him and she pulled him downward, crushing him into the wall next to the groaning Rhennmar.