The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[Andx]

As the Draken's attempts at scribbling in the sand continued he was surprised to hear a voice by his side. The water spirit had come to inquire about what he was doing. Even having heard it speak to the other spirits earlier the voice had been unfamiliar. Though not as bad as its Chosen, Flux hadn't seemed especially talkative early on into things. Reinaan shifted to look at the thing but where he ought to look wasn't particularly clear. There wasn't much of a face to this spirit.

"Well uh... I guess message is closest. It's ancient Draken. Or what I remember of it at least. Only the village elders know it super well these days anyway." the boy started. Reinaan pointed to the various shapes in turn, explaining what they were supposed to look like and how that represented the thing. The most obvious was the volcano of Blagos itself as it was fairly difficult to mess up a drawing of a large mountain. But where humans likely saw imminent destruction, Reinaan and his people saw the source of life. Rarely would the symbol carry negative connotations with it.

Eventually with some of Keres' food in him, Reinaan was ready to sleep off the day's fatigue. Lindow's healing had been a start but there was still no replacing a good nap for restoring strength. After checking his belongings one last time the boy checked on Kloqah who wasn't particularly hungry. This wasn't particularly strange. Large lizards in general seemed to share the trait of eating somewhat infrequently. What was odd was how calm she was. Typically she'd have snapped or huffed at him by this point but she simply let the tired little lizard lean into her side and sleep as was his habit. Only after the boy had passed out would the lizard wrap her longer neck around him before sleeping herself. This one got hurt too much. She needed to keep a better eye on him.

----------

It was a new day, or at least maybe it was. The eternal sunlight made it near impossible to tell if one day had ended or another began. Still the lizards roused themselves as the others awoke. While sore and stiff, Reinaan was already feeling better. Some slightly clumsy stretching had him feeling good to go before long. It was time to get all of Kloqah's gear back in place and hit the road with the rest of the group. She seemed largely content to be back to baring the load of food and Draken alike. They still had a ways to go and the boy was grateful she'd be doing the walking for him. He made no comment on the man's remarks about leaving the place feeling like leaving home. The Fire Chosen still didn't trust him as it was.

Due to this being her natural habitat, Kloqah had an easy time leading the way for the group initially. Even without directly exerting himself the heat was beginning to bother Reinaan however. He liked it warm but when it was just constantly hot day in and day out, it got irritating. Worse it got tiring as just being out it stressed and dehydrated the body. His black scales were painful to the touch due to how well they absorbed the heat. Thankfully they largely retained it to themselves instead of frying the boy's insides. Still, after two days of travel and minor scraps, it was feeling like about time to go anywhere else. But looking at the others, Reinaan saw he certainly wasn't having the worst of it. The halfing and Hob alike seemed to be struggling. She spoke of her longing to be somewhere cold where you could just put more clothes on to keep warm. Reinaan caught her gaze as she looked at him and said non-dragons couldn't just take their clothes off. It was strange to hear someone speak to his lack of dress finally. And not even in a condemning tone but rather it seemed acceptable for him to be how he was. If Gilly held the common opinion he sure had the time of his life ahead of him when he got back telling the others to stop nagging him about it.

"You don't have to be a dragon." he started, a hint of his overall confusion on the matter present in his voice. "If you're too hot, just take something off. Isn't that the whole point of wearing something else's skin? You put it on when you want and you take it off when you want." he theorized aloud. It was one thing to complain about your own fur or scales being uncomfortable in a situation. But if the problem was something external you put on your body, you shouldn't have to keep it on. Something or someone must have taught Gilly it wasn't okay for her to not wear anything he thought. Reinaan's village had tried that with him too but that was dumb. If you needed fur you'd have been born with it surely. Maybe this was just some revolutionary breakthrough he'd made. Everyone else grew up believing the lies. Maybe his real mission was to impart this truth to the world. Or maybe the heat was getting to him and he needed to cool off. That seemed a lot more likely.

Eventually a somewhat more relevant thought was presented in Keres wondering what the group would do once they found the group of sharks. In their eagerness to find this collection of subterranean it seemed none of them had given it much thought. At the least, if the Water Chosen hadn't thought of something Reinaan doubted anyone else had.

"We wanna see why they're gathering right? Maybe it's around something..." he proposed, not entirely certain himself. Even if there was some special thing the sharks circled the fact of the matter would remain an army of sharks would be between them and the thing. "We could try some sort of uh... coordinated magical attack thing..." he continued still not entirely sure what he was saying. The ideas would probably be clearer if they were already there. Planning in the moment was more his thing but he definitely understood the girl's desire to have something set before potentially diving into their deaths.

[Alaina]

Once everyone had woken up, it was already time for the group to begin their travels into the desert once more. The heat was unbearable as ever and her apparel did not help in this regard. The sweat was beginning to form all across her and her fatigue was beginning to accumulate from the days of travel they had done across the endless sands. Though, from the little time she had spent in the desert prior to getting the ring, she could feel a clear difference in it. All the same, the journey was brutal and she wasn't quite sure how much further they had to travel, nor what exactly they were looking for beyond sand fish.

 

As Keres had mentioned the topic of their goal, Ryia then tried to think on what it was they were going to do. Just one of the creatures was already dangerous enough, and if someone were controlling them it would be only that much more dangerous to fight a whole bunch of them. As Reinaan brought up his point, Ryia started to think aloud. "We  should probably...just observe them first? To, um, figure out what the area is like and see...what we're up  against?" 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"But next time, we need more food! A girl's gotta eat, after all."

 

"I will...try." Keres said, her voice cracking at last. She had spoken more than before, and seemed to be getting better at it every day, but it still felt strange to say actual words. Whatever the case she was glad that their resident eater enjoyed it. It told her she wasn't doing so bad.

 

"Lucky isn't a very good taste tester." She said without much explanation.

---

"What is stupid is being a grumpypants, though."

 

"Yes, what is there to be grumpy about? Sand, sand, sun, and sand, what more could one need?" Damien responded to the halfling with a smirk as they continued on their way.

--

Keres frowned at the responses, or lack thereof. She didn't like the idea of going in so....recklessly. They had seen the shark from before so it shouldn't be hard to come up with some ideas of how to face them. But, she supposed, maybe they could think more clearly in the moment. Though Keres wasn't sure how that would be possible.

 

In any case the group continued on for several more hours until....

 

 

They could see something sticking out of the sand, about 300 feet away. It seemed like some kind of rock formation. Brown in color but without much else that could be made out in the distance except that there was some black object atop it.

And 100 feet closer than that....was the sharks.

 

They could just barely make out the movement. A bit of rippling sand, a flash of a fin, but if they focused they would be able to tell that they were at least similar to the creature they encountered upon first arriving there.

 

It was difficult to count them but, after a few moments of focus, Keres announced. "Six....or seven, maybe eight." to the group.

 

As they watched it seemed like the sharks were, more or less, circling the stone structure. Never getting closer than 100 feet from it but not getting much farther. They seemed spread out and, contrary to normal behavior, they seemed to be keeping a relatively uniform distance apart from each other. Thus there was never much of a gap between each shark as they continued their movements.

[Sethera]

"I will...try." Mute Girl said, her voice cracking. "Lucky isn't a very good taste tester."

 

Gilly wasn't sure who Lucky was, but she was currently eating, so wasn't able to ask. By the time she had swallowed all the food in her mouth the conversation had moved on and she quickly forgot about it.

 

--

 

"Yes, what is there to be grumpy about? Sand, sand, sun, and sand, what more could one need?" Damien responded to the halfling with a smirk as they continued on their way.

 

"You're weird," Gilly huffed. "Sand and sun sucks." She thought about it for a bit. "Unless...is that sarcasm?"

 

--

 

"You don't have to be a dragon," Reiny boy started, confused. "If you're too hot, just take something off. Isn't that the whole point of wearing something else's skin? You put it on when you want and you take it off when you want."

 

"Whoa, whoa, wait, really?" the girl perked up, eyes brightening. "So wait, the adults are wrong? That means...dragon time!" she immediately started to take off her heavy armor right then and there. If somebody didn't stop her she would proceed to undress herself further. "Maybe now I won't feel like I'm dying."

 

--

 

Later on, dressed or undressed, Gilly would spot the sharks with the rest of the group. Mute Girl counted six, seven, eight, which took the halfling a second to understand exactly what she meant, but when she did, she gazed at the sharks herself, which were circling the stone structure. "Whoa, there're a lot of them," she muttered, before pumping a fist, eyes blazing. "This seems like a job for Gilly!" she materialized an ice spear right afterward, sticking her tongue out as she concentrated on aiming.

[Hälō]

"Oh no you don't..." Having remained silent for the lion's share of trip, Lindow finally spoke up as he stopped short and spun around to grab Gilly by the top of the head in the same manner that he always did. "This is not that kind of party, my dear. I'm afraid dragon time will have to be canceled until you grow scales and breath fire like, young Reinaan." He spoke sternly, and wouldn't allow her to continue until she slid back into her armor.  

 

Before they proceeded, Lindow shot Reinaan scolding look.

 

--

 

By the time the group had reached the sharks, Lindow had nearly completely changed his gear. After recalling what had happened in their last battle with these creatures, and receiving Damian's advice regarding the effectiveness of slashing attacks on their hide, Lindow had reluctantly stowed away his three swords in favor of weapons that better suited the situation.  

 

The Bandit's shield was fastened tightly to his left arm, and on his back he now brandished the remaining three javilin, as well as 15 crossbow bolts. The four daggers remained on his person however, seeing as they weren't exactly cumbersome in the first place.   

 

"Whoa, there're a lot of them," Glancing over to Gilly, Lindow watched her form an ice spear before shifting his attention back over to the mule so he could grab a crossbow. "This seems like a job for Gilly!" As the Ice chosen lined up her shot, Lindow calmly loaded a bolt into his bow before turning to the rest of the group. 

 

"She's not too far off. I suppose the best course of action is to cause some kind of disturbance from here, and see how they react..." He sighed, the heat clearly making the Witch Hunter slightly irritable. "Who knows what will happen though. Be ready for a fight, because they'll be on us before we know it if they fancy it." Bringing up the crossbow to eye-level, Lindow began to line up his shot whilst walking a little past Gilly. After a moment of silence, Lindow drew a deep breath before raising the bow at a slight angle and firing it off towards the mass of sharks.

[Andx]

Reinaan was baffled his logic had been so readily accepted by another person. Gilly would be the first in the boy's life who seemed to get that there wasn't anything wrong with not putting anything on your body. He had to smile as she affectionately called it dragon time as she began slipping out of her armor. Granted he wasn't entirely sure he was ready for this kind of thing. If Gilly had accepted it, maybe this really was a social revolution he was meant to bring about. Was he ready for that kind of responsibility? Was he even going to be comfortable seeing his companions undressed. They were likely to be covered in fur he thought just based off the amount of hair on their head. Hair was gross so maybe their armor and clothes obscuring it was better. But little of that mattered compared to the young halfling being free of the lies she had been raised with he decided.

The issue was settled for him however as Lindow came and stopped the girl in her tracks. However cool the swordsman was, Reinaan had forgotten the man was still an adult. A part of the system meant to keep individuals like himself and Gilly in line with their silly rules. Then the Thunder Chosen had the nerve to stare down the draken as if this was somehow the boy's fault. Confusion was all that read on his face as he felt he'd done nothing wrong. If anything he felt he'd be helping Gilly not suffer pointlessly in the sweltering desert heat as well as fight better. How any of them ran about with so much cloth wrapped around their legs he'd never know. Still. the actual disciplining hadn't extended to him. If Lindows focus was simply enforcing the human sense of modesty he should have made the boy cover up too. The mention of scales seemed to imply the focus was much more on protection. So humans and halflings must not have had any natural protection of their own which would explain a functional purpose to armor and the like.

"He can't stop dragon time forever." the boy whispered to Gilly after the group began again on their way. He would remain defiant in what ways he could.

---

With the final leg of their arduous journey complete, a rock formation came into view. It was definitely something to see a rock in the middle of this ocean of sand. They were about three hundred feet out when Keres identified the gathering of sharks they'd been informed about. The boy looked out and could see the fins barely revealed above the sand. He could confirm the Water Chosen's estimate but the precise number escaped him as well. The group spoke some of their first encounter with the shark and hypothesized these were likely being controlled. Damien's insights confirmed this was incredibly unusual behavior for them and spoke to the ineffectiveness of slashing attacks for fighting them. Gilly as always was ready to thrown an ice lance at the creatures. Lindow however took a more collected approach and gathered up some weapons from the mule. A crossbow and the remaining javelins. It made sense given his swords weren't meant to stab. Reinaan's sword wasn't either though he'd brute forced it on occasion before.

The boy's thoughts turned to his own plans of attack. With ziiyol's power he could very likely pierce the skin of the sharks. But getting in that close with them seemed unsafe at best and deadly at worst. Especially if more than one attacked. Lindow's gathering better weapons brought an idea to mind. They had kept it all this time after all. And he'd been feeling oddly stronger lately. Taller too but he must have been imagining that. The boy went to the mule and withdrew Kha's great sword. The weapon was truly massive but if he could use it he thought surely it would be helpful in striking down these creatures. He brought it over to Kloqah's side where he prepared himself. He'd held onto the amulet from their excursion into the lamia's lair. Though he very much doubted the sharks had any magic to speak of he put it on his naked body, the accessory hot against his scales as nearly everything would be under this sun. He placed his metal bracers over his hands and feet. He hadn't been fighting with them much come to think of it. They stabilized and protected his hands and feet making it easier to tear at things with his claws. The trade off was a small bit of flexibility but given his weapon of choice for the occasion he very much doubted that mattered. He left his additional weapons, his sword, spear and one remaining javelin, set in place on Kloqah's back. To finish preparations he got his travelling bag and placed in it his dagger to carry along with his salve and other odds and ends before throwing it over his shoulder and tightening the strap so it wouldn't flop about as he moved.

Lindow's shot had gone off as Gilly continued aiming. The bolt landed near the shark circle and something odd happened. One shark broke formation and actually surfaced to eat the bolt. Yet the others continued their diligent circling of the ground before the rock. Once its task was complete the straggler would slowly return to its place in the line. Reinaan stepped up to Lindow and Gilly's positions, now lugging the massive sword with him. He was more than capable of handling it though as he displayed by swinging it up and resting the blunt side on his right shoulder shoulder with one hand holding onto it to keep it in place.

"Do you think we could draw them out one at a time?" he questioned to the group in general in light of the results of their test. Fighting the sharks seven on one a half dozen or so times felt much better than getting rushed all at once.

[Alaina]

After some more walking through the boundless, the group eventually found something different. A strange rock formation with something black atop it and in a ring around them, the same sand swimming creatures they had encountered when they first arrived in the desert. As Keres seemed to count off how many there were, Ryia couldn't help but gulp a bit at the notion of having to take on eight of them. With two more people they were already hard pressed to subdue only one, even if they did have another threat to deal with at the time. The thought of dealing with a large amount more than that was truly daunting, and the rest of the group, bar Gilly, seemed to agree with this notion as they exercised caution in their approach to this. As the group discussed their plan in dealing with this, and observed the actions of the creatures, Ryia had moved to grab a crossbow of her own. Loading it up, the girl walked towards the rest of the group, moving a bit further than everyone else ahead. 

 

Looking to Reinaan as he asked about luring them, Ryia nodded as she took her position and readied the crossbow, taking aim towards one of the creatures. The device itself was awkward for her to wield, but simple enough in its use that it didn't confound her in the same way a normal bow would. And while she was no sniper she was not looking to actually land any sort of fatal blow. So, taking a deep breath, the girl focused herself and fired the crossbow out in the direction of one of the sharks, just a bit away from it to see how it would react. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Ryia stepped up 30 feet, and fired a crossbow. The bolt is intended to hit 10 feet away from the closest shark to the group, (so if the rock formation is 0 ft, and the party's original position is 300 ft, she's aiming 110 ft.) 

 

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

They didn't seem to have much an idea yet of what to do. Keres continued to observe the sharks as they circled, and as one broke away for a moment, and circled some more. She didn't know how long they could stay here undetected, even though the sharks were underground, but she was certain it would be best not to test the limit of their time long.

 

"Do you think we could draw them out one at a time?"

 

The first plan that they formed was to use the crossbows and other projectiles as a means to get one of the sharks to approach them and take them out that way. "Maybe one...or two...the rest would notice eventually." Keres said. It wasn't a bad plan but it also wasn't one that would last long. If they managed to bring a couple down the others, despite their probably mind control, would take notice. But as a start it might not be such a bad idea.

 

She glanced over at Damien, who had given them some information, and noticed he wasn't even paying attention to the sharks. His eyes were locked on the rock formation a bit farther ahead.

 

Keres followed his gaze and when she did, or, more specifically, when she set her eyes on the darker colored object atop the formation...she felt something.

 

She suddenly felt cold, despite the heat of the sun, and her vision blurred. A twisting, aching, feeling began in her chest and she felt a sudden urge to flee.

And then she felt Flux's presence nearby and it sent a soothing feeling down her body. She shook a bit and said. "Is...that it."

 

Flux, appearing next to her, made a noise of affirmation. "It feels like it, yes...Up there is where the Demon Gate rests."

 

Keres nodded solemnly. Which meant that whoever was controlling these sharks must have known about the Gate. What that meant was uncertain but what she did know was that, one way or another, they had to break through this formation.

 

She glanced at Gilly who seemed about ready to throw and knew that trying to stop her was futile. She could only hope whatever the girl decided to do would help, not hinder.

And then Ryia shot off another bolt, a bit closer to them than Lindow's had been. The shark reacted similarly and went after the bolt. Though this time, after it went back into the earth, it seemed to stay a bit farther from the rest and began to move in a smaller circle around the area the bolt landed.

 

[spoiler=OOC]If it wasn't obvious before, yes, you have confirmation that this is the location that you seek. All of the Chosen will feel similar to Keres if they look at the object in the distance.

Also here's a map to get a better idea of things. The long lines are about 100 feet and the short are for every 25. Not perfect but it'll give some idea.

Map

Also, Sethera, didn't have Gilly throw but if you want to know what happens just let me know.

 

[Alaina]

With the test having been confirmed to work a bit, the girl began to load up her crossbow once more, only for the halfling to begin walking forward. With icicle lance at the ready, the girl tossed it at the shark and with surprising accuracy found its mark. The lance struck the fin, causing the shark to change its direction beginning to move a bit forward in the direction of the thrower. As it got within 100 feet of Gilly, the shark began to make a beeline and begin charging at the halfling. 

 

With the crossbow loaded, and not quite sure how to fight the threat now that it was actually charging them, Ryia instead tried to divert its path. Firing a crossbow bolt in the sand near it, the impact did not seem to change the sharks direction any, and the girl only seemed to grow more nervous about their oncoming foe. Tossing her crossbow behind her, the girl drew out her shield and mace, looking to the halfling next to her. "Gilly, get ready to move." While her tone was urgent, Ryia didn't really feel like telling the halfling to run would do anything productive, both because of the sharks nature to hunt motion and Gilly's likelihood to either do nothing or the opposite anyway. So instead, she merely walked over to the halfling's side, getting ready for the shark to emerge and counter it however possible once it was above ground. 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Was given the info for the gilly toss and told to put it in by cow. Gilly and Ryia are 50 feet away from the starting mark, and the shark began its charge at the 150 mark. 

 

 

[Andx]

The Draken's eyes were fixed on the shark the group was attempting to lure their way, sparing the boy the feeling of dread the Water Chosen experienced as her spirit confirmed their goal. So far the strategy of firing projectiles nearby seemed to be effective in drawing only a single of the sand-dwelling creatures towards them. Things accelerated a bit as Gilly's attack struck the closest shark, sending it on a much more direct charge in their direction. Ryia had moved up with the Ice Chosen and had opted for her melee weapons over further attempts with the crossbow. Reinaan too felt the need to get closer to put Kha's massive sword to proper use. He took a touch longer with the large weapon than he should have but also made it a point to swipe at the ground with his tail so as to draw the shark to him and not to the girls. They might need to get out of the way of the oncoming set of teeth and any room he could give them he was ready to. With both hands now the boy readied the weapon off his shoulder and overhead. He stopped walking which placed him a couple feet behind the forward pair and off to their right. Still he kept his tail tapping at the sand hoping to draw the shark in a path between himself and Ryia to get some attacks in from both sides.

"Don't move too much! Let it come over my way a bit!" he called out to Ryia in particular. He hoped that much would convey his idea. He knew the Earth Chosen to have a good head on her shoulders when it came to fights from brief moments of cooperation with her thus far. If she saw a good window to strike Reinaan believe she would take it. More importantly he had to be ready for the beast. Despite his strength, using this weapon was still going to prove a bit awkward. He'd do everything he could to make the departed orc proud so long as he could avoid being dinner.

[spoiler=OOC]
Just to make positioning clearer, Reinaan's roughly 47ish feet from the starting and is to the right (downward direction on the map) of Ryia and Gilly. Trying to get the shark to swerve off from them toward him so him and Ryia can whack it from both sides and stuff. 

 

[Sethera]

Gilly aimed, aimed, and kept aiming. Even while everybody else attacked, she kept aiming. She had to...get...it...right...there! After throwing, the shark moved their way. Pinky stepped up beside her and told her to move, but the Great Gilly was no coward!

 

So as the shark got nearer, Gilly drew yet another ice spear to aim it for the shark. As she threw, she heard Reiny boy shout something and her head jerked to the side, her aim going with her. The girl watched in dismay as the spear landed in the ground closer to the dragon boy than the shark. "What?! I totally coulda had that!" she pouted. "Hey, wait, come back!" the halfling shouted as the shark veered off to head toward the misfired spear, and Reiny boy as well. "Aww man, he's gonna get all the glory," she muttered.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres watched nervously as the group intentionally provoked the shark. She knew they had to do something but, coming from where she had, the idea of intentionally getting a monster to attack them felt...weird.

 

And that's when she noticed Anis seemed to be having some trouble. She clutched her head and fell to a knee. The Water Chosen approached the older woman cautiously and, upon inspection, realized the woman was suffering from heat stroke.

Keres provided the woman with some more water and muttered instructions to keep covered and in shade. "I don't think she can fight." She declared to the group.

 

Which meant they were now down to only five to handle this encounter.

 

Well, six, actually. Keres's eyes moved over to Damien who was crouching with a hand on his sword and watching as the shark made its way towards Reinaan.

 

Once the shark was within a few feet it erupted in a column of sand and opened its jaws wide, prepared to clamp down onto the Draken's head.

 

A moment later Damien took off, drawing his sword and, diving under the creature, slashing across the bottom of its body.

 

He rolled and got back up, looking over his shoulder. Unfortunately, despite a small amount of blood, it seemed that the wound hadn't done much at all. Growling, Damien shook his head. "I can't do much to it...I'm going to go closer to the others and try and check out whatever that thing is!"

 

Keres wanted to warn him not to get too close to the sharks but her voice caught in her throat and she began to cough, instead.

 

She pulled out a flask and took a sip, before funneling the water out to hover above her head. She didn't think she could help Reinaan fast enough but she had to be ready for whatever came next.

 

Meanwhile, as Damien got within 200 feet of the rock formation...someone emerged from on top of it.

BGM

 

Dressed in a robe the color of sand they appeared to be an Auran with deep red skin. His hood was thrown back and it was clear from his dry and cracked looking skin that he had spent far too much time in the sun. "So you have come! I knew you would. I just didn't think you would come in this form. You come here to kill me, to silence me, and ruin the beauty of this everlasting daylight! I will not have it, you shall face the wrath of an archmage!" Upon saying this he threw up his hands and a large flaming ball appeared above him and launched towards Damien.

[spoiler=OOC]Map

So...the shark is closing in on Reinaan, trying to chomp, and Damien, upon realizing he couldn't do much to the shark, attempted to make a dash for the gate. And was stopped by the True Boss of the desert! Mad Auran Archmage. Who is casting a Fireball at Damien.

 

For the record if anyone else had gotten into range that would have happened but it happened this way because a certain someone didn't post before deadline :P

 

Also yeah Anis will be out of the fight but she can still die if a shark decides to go for her so keep that in mind.

 

[Sethera]

Gilly watched as Mr. Grumpypants slashed a line underneath the shark before approaching the rock formation. As soon as he did that she lost interest in him and proceeded to run toward the shark, Hob following behind at a slower pace. The halfling threw a spear at the shark, hoping that her aim would be better this time...no, she knew it'd be better this time. Because she was Gilly, after all, and Gilly never failed twice!

 

Or if she did, then it was just because of the wind, or something like that.

 

Meanwhile, Snow stirred from within the bag at the sound of a strange voice. Peeking out from the bag, he saw what looked to be a mad Auran, and his expression turned troubled. "As if we do not have enough to deal with," he grumbled.

[Andx]

Reinaan's efforts had successfully drawn the shark's focus and the creature swerved off in his direction. Damien and Gilly still leaped into action fairly quickly. Both attacked, one with a sword on the underbelly as he continued on, and the other with an ice spear. Both attacks drew blood but neither seemed to seriously impede the shark. The ice spear in particular shattered on impact. This left the shark still well on its course to bite into the young Draken who readied the large weapon he'd kept overhead. The boy did what he could to move to the right while also beginning his swing, aimed to slam into the side of the shark's face from above as it charged through the air. Reinaan swung with all his might at an angle where he hit the side of the shark's mouth. It took the array of deadly teeth away from his person but did little else to stop the shark's advance. It's side slammed into the boy, knocking him back and onto his tail in the side as it dove back underground after finishing its jump.

"Dammit, that thing's sturdy." the boy swore as he scrambled to his feet and readied the weapon again. "We need something to stop its movement!" he called back to Ryia, figuring the Earth Chosen best suited to inhibiting the path of a creature that moved through the ground. The situation wouldn't have felt so bad had this been the only creature. But there were many more waiting for them so having the initial strike be largely ineffective was disheartening. Meanwhile, Damien had charged straight for the gate, only to be assaulted by the magic of an Auran who titled himself an archmage. Reinaan spared little to focusing on the newcomer as his eyes tracked the movements of the shark still near him. But as the sight of the gate crept into the corner of his eye, a sense of dread settled into him which caused him to turn away and back to his current task. Damien would have to handle himself until this shark was taken care of.

[Hälō]

"Hm," Lindow quickly reloaded his crossbow whilst observing the brief exchange between the group's vanguard, and the first of the sharks. Ordinarily, the man might have been inclined to rush in just as Damian had, but with the Nature Chosen out of the fight, it now fell on the him to provide the party with ranged support. 
 
With a fresh bolt set, Lindow took a knee. Exhaling to deeply to shake sickly feeling that Gate in the distance brought him as it loomed in his peripheral vision, Lindow brought his crossbow up and began tracking the sharks movements after it returned to the sand.  
 
"We need something to stop its movement!" 
 
"No this is prefect. Reinaan, I need you to remain calm..." Lindow spoke in a carful tone as he watched the shark begin to menacingly circle Fire Chosen. "Our best chance to inflict damage is when it comes up to attack. If we kno-" Suddenly, the voice a new combatant cut through the air. Glancing over to the Auran mage for only a moment, Lindow sighed before returning his sights to the shark. They'd deal with that one later...
 
"You need to focus solely on dodging. Trust us to provide the counter attack..." He called out towards the young Draken a few moments before the shark began to move towards him once more.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Lindow his aiming his crossbow at shark 1, and will attack when the creature surfaces to attack Reinaan.

 

[Alaina]

As the shark had charged both past her and the halfling, Ryia was surprised to see it instead head for the Draken instead. As the beast made its way out of the ground, those close enough went on the offensive to try and take down the land fish, however the resulting damage didn't seem to be too high. With his own sword swing being ineffective, Damien then bolted towards the rock formation, only for Ryia's attention to then be drawn to the top of the rock formation, and the man now atop it. As she looked at the black thing atop the spire a sense of dread washed over her, causing a chill to run its course through her. This did not last long, nor did it cause her to falter for much more than a second as the man atop the rocks had begun his introduction, presenting himself to be an archmage of some kind. Gulping as their troubles seemed to have just multiplied, Ryia watched as the man sent out a blast of fire towards their swordsman ally. 

 

Responding as quickly as she could, Ryia attempted to summon a wall between Damien and the fire to block the boy from being roasted by it, saying, "Damien get back!" With that, her window of time to take on the shark was dashed, as it sunk back down into the ground. Not wanting to make any sudden movements to draw it away from the plan that both Reinaan and Lindow seemed to have in dealing with it, Ryia merely held firm, both waiting for her time to strike against the shark and agonizing over her own lack of ability to be able to do anything more about the attacks of the archmage above. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Damien get back!"

 

"Tch, thanks for the advice." Damien muttered. The ball of fire was almost upon him and he had two choices. Forward or backwards. He wanted to advance but...that would only draw the sharks wouldn't it? In that case he had no choice but to....

 

Damien began to run backwards as the ball landed on the wall that Ryia had created. The force of the fireball managed to destroy the wall and cause a slight shockwave which knocked Damien off of his feet. He then landed face down into the sand.

 

And the shark made its move. The creature moved away from Reinaan to race towards the now prone Damien. It burst out of the sand right where he was laying, capturing him between its mouth.

 

Keres's eyes widened as she saw this, realizing that in a moment the shark's jaws would clamp down on the mysterious swordsman. So she cast her spell and flung a whip-formation of water towards him, wrapping around Damien and tugging him away. Which served to, once again, fling him into the ground.

 

The shark's jaws slammed shut on nothing but air as it twisted to dive back under the ground. Only for Lindow's bolt to strike its side. It buried into the beast and drew more blood but the shark was still on its way down.

 

On top of the pillar the Auran was laughing. "They should have sent more if they wanted to kill ME!" Upon saying this he began to chant. And a larger fireball formed above his head.

 

And then more of the sharks began to steadily advance on the group.

 

Keres's eyes flicked across the field, trying to think of what to do, and she let out a strangled. "We have to hurry!"

 

Soon the group would be overwhelmed. Unless they acted fast.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Things are getting bad yes. It might be a good time to try and work together on posts and/or post more than once.

map

 

[Alaina]

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse as the fight progressed on, the shark nearly chomping down on Damien and the archmage beginning to assault them with his magic once more, this time with a flame more threatening then the last. As more Sharks began to make their way towards the group, Ryia knew that they needed to take care of the one in front of them first before they could deal with any of the others. Beyond that, there was also the issue of the archmage himself, a foe that she didn't have any really means of dealing with at the moment. And so, she would leave him to the others, instead trying to fell the shark first. 

 

Stomping forward, trying to make a ruckus so that they would be drawn towards Ryia. As the ground began to shift in the direction of her, the girl began to make her way backwards, readying her shield to counter the shark when it did arise. Calling out to Ackrin, the girl used his magic to make the ground her more stable and level, making it easier to move on. As such, once the shark burst out of the sand, jaws open towards her, Ryia attempted to side step away from the shark and bash her shield across its face, both trying to dodge and push the shark away from her at the same time. 

[Hälō]

Lindow sprung up immediately after seeing his bolt find it's mark. Quickly stepping back over to the mounts, the man plucked up the Bandit Cleaver and fastened it on his belt before making his way to Reinaan whilst the  Arch Mage began gathering flame for another spell.

 

After seeing how destructive the enemy's magic was against Ryia's defenses, it was now very clear that this man would have to be dealt with sooner rather than later...

 

"Reinaan, take this and see if you can engage our friend up there!" Seeing the first shark move towards Ryia, Lindow hastily turned and shrugged off his quiver, before handing it off to the young Draken along with the crossbow. "We can't let him keep casting uninterruptedly." 

 

With his load lightened, Lindow drew one of the three javelin on his back and gripped it with two hands. Following the shark's path as he sprinted forward, Lindow drew the javelin back and braced himself just as the beast bursted forth from the sand like it had already done so many times before. The man snarled with effort as he suddenly twisted his body back before thrusting the javelin into the shark's underbelly.  

[Andx]

Priorities had shifted all at once. While focus was on the sharks, the Auran had assaulted them with fire magic and was now readying a larger attack. Lindow had arrived at Reinaan's side with his crossbow and quiver which the boy took without much word or complaint, simply nodding in agreement. The group could kill the shark but not with those sorts of attacks raining down on them. The Draken was naturally somewhat fire resistant and he had the bandit leader's amulet on so he was better suited to the task of interrupting the spell. He slid the quiver over a shoulder, with one hand carried the crossbow. He stuck Kha's great sword into the sand which stood mostly upright. Much as he felt the need for it with more sharks approaching, he needed to be able to move quickly. Ziiyol ever hovered near her partner and he had a feeling he'd be needing her power before long.

The young lizard boy began running off to the side and towards the rock structure, in line with the southern of the two approaching shark's current paths. He wouldn't stray too far before stopping to aim but he had to ensure that if he drew the fireball they wouldn't all get caught up in the attack. Coming to a stop was a bit more difficult than it needed to be in the sand but Reinaan was soon loading and aiming the crossbow off toward the enemy mage. He had to be sure to keep the object behind him out of his direct focus as it distracted him with cold, negative emotions. An ironic contrast to the fire spell being conjured before it. The draken had never really fired a crossbow before but having seen them in action they were just mechanized and more powerful bows which he had used before. And any projectile traveled enough like a spear when you really thought about it. At this distance he'd have to be sure to give it some room to drop and so he aimed for the top of the Auran's head, hoping the bolt to find a home in the man's gut or thereabout. When it felt right the boy fired and sent the bolt soaring off through the air. Without missing a beat he began loading again, for whether he hit or another shark approached, he'd be needing it.

[spoiler=OOC]
Reinaan done moved southeastish of the group to fire a bolt at the auran. Would put him at about hereish (hereish being about the red dot i added figured this was the easiest way to go about saying where he was) on the map.

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

The shark burst out of the sand in front of Ryia, ready to chomp on the girl. Her reaction was just fast enough to bash the creature on its nose and disorient it while midair.

Lindow's attack struck true...though he found the underbelly wasn't much less tough than the rest of it and the javelin's head was all that pierced its flesh. The rest shattered as he tries to push it farther in.

 

And that's when Damien came in, slashing once more across the creature's back, drawing a bit more blood than before.

 

The wounded creature continued its forward momentum, though it was unable to actually bite Ryia, and it crashed into the girl with its impressive bulk.

 

One of the closer sharks, drawn by the ruckus, began to head its way for the group as well, coming in from the north.

 

The Auran mage noticed Reinaan's attack. Though he didn't move to avoid the crossbow bolt. Instead it was the shark that was directly in front of the formation that took the blow, leaping up into the air to be struck in the belly by the bolt.

 

It moved back underground and slowly started making its way forward.

 

And yet another shark, moving much faster, started heading for the Draken from under the sun. Adding to that the Auran now had his attention entirely on Reinaan. With a flick of his wrist he sent the massive ball of fire heading for Reinaan, slightly slower than the shark's movements.

 

Keres's eyes flicked back and forth as she tried to figure out what she should do.

 

She came to a conclusion that may have seemed rather insane. And she began to approach the rock formation. Choosing to completely ignore the sharks. She felt that they wouldn't be able to take on the sharks like this. More were coming and there was only one that seemed close to death.

 

She would find a way to cut off the head. Even if she had to cross the shark filled sands to do so.

[spoiler=OOC]map

So yeah, the first shark is rather injured but also basically on top of Ryia now. Meanwhile Reinaan has a fireball and a shark coming for him, and Keres is making a break for it.

 

[Sethera]

There wasn't time to think, not that Gilly took the time to think too hard about things anyway. It hurt her brain, and why spend your time thinking when you could be spending that time actually doing something instead? She would leave the heavy duty thinking to people like Mute Girl.

 

So without taking the time to think, Gilly charged at the nearest shark, the one attacking her friends. Her feet sank into the sand with each step, but the closer she got, the firmer it got, for some reason. Not questioning her sudden good luck, the halfling thrust an ice spear out right at the shark soon after it flopped onto Pinky. Taking a leaf from his book, she decided to aim for the underbelly as well, letting out a small war cry as she did so.

 

Hob baa'd in the background, temporarily forgotten by his owner. Shaking his head and snorting, he approached the shark at a steady run, head lowered to ram into the side of its body and topple it off of the Earth Chosen.

[Hälō]

Lindow watched Keres dart off towards the gate whilst Gilly stabbed at the shark with one of her spears. "Tsk, she might ahve the right idea..." He sighed whilst returning his attention to his own more immediate situation. Seeing that beast was unable to defend itself as from Gilly while being stuck thrashing atop Ryia, Lindow quickly drew another javelin and rushed to the beast's side.

 

"We need push forward as well, or we may find ourselves a bit overwhelmed! He spoke whilst quickly heaving his weapon backwards for a moment to aim.

 

Lindow took a only a brief second to brace himself in a steady stance before suddenly plunging the javelin into the shark's eye just as Hob slammed headfirst into the beast. Struggling to steady his weapon against the creature's thrashing, Lindow began to aid Hob in the effort of pushing the shark off Ryia. As he pushed, the man glanced over to see that the second shark had now closed about half the distance between it and Ryia. 

[Andx]

While his aim had been on point, Reinaan's bolt was intercepted by one of the sharks in the way of his line of fire. This auran had more control over the actions of the sharks than the boy had originally thought. At the least he'd drawn the fireball his way so the others were free to handle the shark in their midst. It took him a second to process that this wasn't actually a good thing for him, as the approaching shark was nearing and ready to strike right ahead of the magical projectile. While the crossbow was ready to fire again he'd already seen first hand that single bolts meant very little to the subterranean beasts. There was little he could do to directly challenge it at the moment he did he all he could and rolled off to his left as the creature's jump began.

The shark rose and dove into the spot Reinaan had been standing. The Draken rolled a few times on the ground and was going to take another moment to get to his feet. The fireball was continuing on its way directly for him and all he could think was the amulet would have to block it. While bracing for impact the boy felt his feet leave the ground. Before he knew what was happening he'd landed face first onto Kloqah's back. The mount had been running towards the little lizard upon seeing he was getting himself into trouble again. But before he had any time to adjust himself or thank her, the fireball found its mark. And yet it didn't hit either reptile. It stopped in front of the duo before the magic looked like it was being sucked into the amulet about the Draken's neck.

"It works!" he called in wonder at the sight. However the object grew hot against his scales as the process continued and even started to crack. The last remnants of the fireball entered and all at once exploded, sending the lizard duo flying backwards. The shark had retreated underground and the explosion itself hadn't harmed anything past sending out the shockwave. But Reinaan now had his back on the sand and Kloqah on top of him which had understandably knocked the wind out of him for a moment while she scrambled to stand. She seemed to recover from the blow faster than he did and after standing back up nudged at her small rider with her snout to check on him. It took a moment but the boy sat up. The amulet was still in place but there were cracks all about it. He'd be lucky if it blocked another fireball half so big he figured given the state of it. As he looked at the battlefield he saw someone running for the stone structure alone. Was that Lindow going for the kill on the mage? That would have made sense but this... this was Keres!

"Come on, we gotta go get her!" he called to Kloqah as he hopped onto her back and pointed at the Water Chosen. The lizard seemed to understand the situation and took off running for the girl, much faster than she usually moved while the group traveled. Keres had the right idea. With the level of control over the sharks and destructive power this mage possessed, they needed to be rid of him to stand a chance. But she clearly wasn't considering how she'd avoid the sharks and fight him. That'd just have to be where the fearsome dragon of Blagos came in.

[Alaina]

As the girl swung her shield out, she had managed to parry the shark's bite away from her. However, quite like what had happened last time she had tried to meet a shark head on, while she was successful in defending against the actual attack, she could not defend against the entire weight of the shark falling on top of her. As it lied there on top of her, the girl began to struggle to lift it off of herself, and as the halfling had come to pierce it with its spear, and both Lindow  and Hob had come to shove it off she started to find success. With herculean effort, the girl managed to push the shark off, causing it to just flop harmlessly on the sand and attempting to right itself. Getting back onto her feet, as she got into a crouched position she made way to shield bash the shark in the nose to keep it from following them for longer. 

 

As her attack landed and disoriented the shark, the girl stood upright fully and looked to see the current situation of the scene. Noting that Keres was making a break for it with Reinaan rushing after her as well, Ryia had figured that this was the solution they had stumbled upon. However, her own path was being blocked by an oncoming shark and so the girl took a stand to let the others make their way to down the center as well, attempting to stall out the shark before her. Stepping a few feet north, the girl took one short hop to guide the shark's attention before standing at the ready on the still magically affected sand. Readying her mace, Ryia was waiting for the shark to strike, side step it and counter with a swift swing of her mace towards its face.