Summer 15, 124
Caelum stood atop the cave that he technically owned, looking over the cliff and down at Paradise in the distance. His travels had taken him many places, but he tended to avoid the mountains. The reason being, that was where the Vokhai tended to hide. But sometimes he went looking for trouble. High above his cave there was another set of caves dug into the side of the mountain. He had blown fire into one of them and they'd chased him out.
Caelum turned, seeing that they had caught up to him and got ready for battle. It was quick, for they were running at full speed towards him. He tried to take a step back but the mage in the opposing party made the ground under him turned into mud. It was a good idea, but they rushed Caelum so fast that he did not take the time take off. He slipped the once sturdy ground turned into a mud slide. Sliding down the wet muddy incline, he was now surrounded by the vokhai who feared not the mud.
He used natare to stabilize himself, then formed a sword. Then he began to hack at his sides forcing the incoming combatants away. It was a roller coaster of some sort, as he used his ability to fly to soar into the air. As he flew, he did a 180 degree turn to face the group and fired a volley of hardlight shards at them.
Nine left, and all sliding on the mud that had somewhat backfired. There was another figure in the sky now. It looked like a robin swooping in to his rescue, but no, it was Sjal in red garb. She slipped a couple throwing knives from her side pockets each aiming for an opponent, and though she wasn't a master of knives, it was fairly simple to create portals right next to her opponents and try stabbing them in the necks. She got two of the vokhai but two others got wise to her tactics and dodged out of the way. Sjal gathered more speed as she flew to catch up to Caelum.
She swooped in and grabbed the dragon by the arm, tossing dragging him over to the side to meet with some solid ground. They were about to flee into one of the caves but someone had snuck up on Sjal. A hand grabbed her, pulling her down into the mud. Caelum quickly ran along the solid earth trying to catch up, but he realized he couldn't.
He opened his mouth and shot what he intended to be a rope of hard light but it appeared more like a jagged beam. He stretched the light out and grabbed one end of it. When Sjal grabbed on, he then began to pull as she tried to kick the vokhai off her back. From Caelum's side, three of the vokhai were beginning to pull themselves up onto the solid land. "They're a persistent lot," he thought.
The other four vokhai were swept away in the mud slide to who knows where. The only vokhai mage of the bunch had a cocky look on his face. Killing the dragon that defended this area would be quite an achievement. Though a good chunk of his group had fallen, he still felt as though he had the upper hand. He could manipulate earth and water, all he needed was a clear shot and he could end this. That being said, it was not easy to get a clear shot.
"Meow!" cried out the sound of a kitten.
"What the fuck?" Caelum thought, turning his head to see a kitten leap from Sjal's pocket and onto a vokhai's face. It was so tiny yet it latched right onto the man's face and sunk its teeth into it for good measure. Caelum couldn't blame the man for his confusion. All he could see was fur and Sjal ended his life before he could pull the cat off his face.
Sjal grinned with childlike amusement, having told the kitten to attack. She didn't like putting it in harms way, but it hadn't want to be left behind either. "Come!" she shouted in beast tongue and the kitten leapt back to her. She stuffed it back in her pocket.
"Want to end this?" She asked her father. "That one is clearly a mage. I could…"
"No, I'll do it," Caelum said, opening his mouth and starting to channel saol into his glands. The enemy mage sucked his teeth and held out a hand, stopping Caelum from opening his mouth all the way. He tossed his hands to the side and Caelum felt his whole body lurch to the side.
Sjal dove to catch him, but her body was lifted and tossed aside too. She felt a strange feeling inside of her, as if her very blood was being pushed around. It messed with her head – blood needed new oxygen very rapidly, especially during a fight. She focused nonetheless and blinked away. For a moment the hydromancer lost grip of her water but he quickly regained it when he spotted where she'd gone.
Sjal blinked again and again, coming closer and closer to the Aquari while dodging under his attacks until she was able to blink behind him. He spun, but she'd finally gotten her chance to attack. She kicked him through a portal, expecting him to fall out of the sky. However, her feet felt like they were kicking through water. Some bits of it went through the portal, but the hydromancer's control over water was impressive. He managed to keep himself from going through, but he was only delaying the inevitable.
Both Sjal and Caelum opened their mouths in unison and seared his body, water and all, with a torrent of flames. Neither was certain if that would be enough to kill an aquari… but given how he didn't reform, they were willing to accept their victory. Sensing defeat, the other vokhai fled.
Caelum passed out, not because he was drained, but because the grip the Aquari had on his blood had left him barely conscious. Sjal blinked over and shook him, somewhat worried about him. Caelum lie on the ground struggling, eyes wide open and sweat drenching all over his chest. Caelum gasped for air and started coughing. He looked around to find that he was surrounded by mud, and Sjal was right at his side with a bright smile.
