Slaves to the Wind [Kamalia]

[Jaeden Kincade]

10th Day of Spring, 510 AV There was a slow breeze through the thick of the forest, carrying with it the whispers of the sounds of nature that the Bronze Woods held within it's vast territory. Rays of sunlight danced along the canopy floor as the trees above swayed under the winds subtle influence. Birds let out various calls, attempting to attract mates to their nest as small animals scurried through bush and grass, foraging for food that was becoming more plentiful each passing day into the new season. Such wasn't the only sounds the forest carried that day, however. The sounds of insults and threats echoed out, as well as the beats of mens feet slamming over the ground at rapid pace. A chase was on, but not of men and wild game, not in the literal fashion of hunt anyhow. Rather, a group of men chased after one other human in the forest, as certain grievances they had with this lone hunter needed addressing. "I knew I should have waited until nightfall," Jaeden muttered in an exhausted tone as he ran from three slavers that gave chase. "Shyke, they're persistent." Jaeden looked over his shoulder to see the three men quickly keeping pace. Luckily, they weren't on horse back, otherwise they would have caught him before he had even reached the forest itself. He had made a move to free two of the slaves they had captured when he stumbled upon their camp, but they were not as preoccupied with their afternoon meal as he had though when one of them had spotted him. One was left behind to guard the slaves while the other three went after him. So he simply ran, hoping to lose them in the woods and try again at a later time. They were faster than he had thought they would be though, and managed to keep pace with him for the past half bell. The chase, however, came to it's end as Jaeden looked back forward, his eyes becoming almost like dinner plates as his body suddenly met with a tree in his path of running. A loud exhale was given as he suddenly bounced off the tree, falling to his back. "Owwwwwww," Jaeden grumbled out as he grabbed his chest. "I've gotta stop doing that." Jaeden quickly rolled over to his front, pushing himself off the ground, his body already beginning to ache with the collision. His right hand fell, grasping the hilt of his sword as he drew it free when the three slavers slowed their pace, stepping into melee range. "You've got a lot of balls, petching with our trade like that," the slaver in the middle, a lanky man with dirty blonde hair said as he leveled a hand ax in Jaeden's direction. Green eyes narrowed at Jaeden, staring at him with malicious intent. "Oh come on," Jaeden said with a slight strain in his voice as he tried to get his breath back, "it's not like I intentionally planned on this. I was just walking by and tripped over them. I figured that I would just move them out of the way so no one else would." "Little shyke thinks he's funny, Daiss," the slaver on the left said as he slowly tapped a large hammer into his hand. He was a human of average height but slightly overweight with scruffy brown hair and light hazel eyes. "Yeah, he does at that, Somar. What do we do with guys like him, Ildton?" the slaver in the middle, Daiss, said before looking to the slaver on the right. The last of the three, Ildton, had a crazed look in his dark blue eyes. Long red hair fluttered in the wind as he began chuckling with his tongue hanging out like someone craving blood. He was a man nearly as tall as Jaeden himself, but not quite as built. He slowly held up the two handed sword in front of him, the edge of it's blade looking almost serrated. He continued his chuckle as he began approaching Jaeden. "Yeah, that's right," Daiss said as he began to slowly step towards Jaeden as well with Somar following suit. "We cut out their tongues." Jaeden slowly began backing away, keeping his distance between him and them constant. The last thing he wanted was to be surrounded. "Man, you fellas need a hobby. I suggest something soothing, like basket weaving or something," Jaeden simply said, craking wise. He still, however, couldn't help but feel he was in a bad situation.

[Kamalia Timandre]

She found little relief, yet no peace, as she wandered alone in the woods. Her soft footfalls were muted by the cacophony of the forest sounds as the girl wandered aimlessly, lost and confused in a cobalt labyrinth of trees. The gentle rays of the sun illuminated her ethereal beauty like a breath of snow against the backdrop of spring. She had been rendered cold by a nightmare, and her arms wrapped tightly around her body, not against the wind, but from the winter in her heart. Despite the golden trace of Syna’s touch upon her skin, she found no warmth and refuge in the verdant solitude offered by the Cobalt Forest. Eyes that seemed to have bottled a violet twilight were cast downward as she walked and paused and turned, distant and unsure. Alas, her mind was being burdened, not by an illness or physical ailment, but by the dark clutches of a vivid nightmare. Those dark dreams kept rerunning in her mind like a portent of doom, until she felt she must scream aloud or go mad. In those dreams, she had killed Gromhir, her guardian, her bondmate, her dearest friend. The bloodied and impaled form of the ivaski haunted and lingered on her mind like a curse. She felt like a plagued aberration, left in wonder what she had truly done to deserve such an encumbrance upon her soul. It was unthinkable, yet the question winked into her mind: was she truly destined to slay her friend, to tear that last flicker of her joy away from the fabric of existence? The terror that she had felt when Gromhir was nearly murdered by her nemesis buffeted her like a raging storm. It was not too long ago when Kamalia committed the ultimate act of selflessness for him that must have shattered her more than it had saved him. The wizard had already stained her hand with blood, and baptized herself in sins too heinous that no konti could even think of committing. She had killed a daughter of Avalis—slew another konti to save the person closest to her heart. Perhaps it was that fate itself had deemed her sin too great that being exiled from her homeland did not suffice for a punishment. Perhaps it was such that magic was guiding her hand towards committing an even more heinous crime. To deny inner peace, to defy all faith, to defile her very existence—was this the suit of an unwilling criminal, a maddened protector, an unfortunate victim of circumstance? Kamalia did not know how long she had been walking; time seemed to still in the oblivion of the forest, as if her own memories were slowly being drowned by the far more ancient repositories that were the trees around her. Yet they remained above the power of their whispers, stubbornly refusing to be comforted. The trails were lined with the fresh shoots of spring, and newborn flowers bloomed around the crevices of rocks and fallen trees. The place smelled of pines and ferns, which sweetened the air, mingling with a hundred geen scents. Still the konti wizard felt no comfort, no peace, and no solitude. She was a slave to the winds. It would take a very calamitous event to snatch her away from this restlessness. Maybe Lhex had granted her that, for as she approached a segment of a forking intersection in the trail, she heard the faint sound of gruff, angry voices from the green coverings to the right. She released her tight hold on herself as she drew closer, surveying the area for any spot she can use to gain a more viable observation point. This she found in the backside of a big, moss covered rock, and she nestled in perfectly in close proximity. The voices seemed altogether laced with murderous intent. It was then that she heard the laid-back voice of the one being pursued, as if he was not worried at all about what kind of fate he was going to suffer soon. Ever the curious, the konti girl took a peek above the rock's summit, unaware that her white and silver hair was all too exposed. Slavers, she thought with utter disgrace.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden continued to slowly fall back from the approaching trio of slavers as his gaze shifted between them. Suddenly, he felt his back hit a tree as his head turned slightly, catching sight of the massive pine behind him. ""Sick him," Diass suddenly said before Ildton suddenly yelled out, leaping at Jaeden while swing his sword down. Jaeden rose his sword over his head, blocking the strike with the flat of his blade. Ildton then grabbed Jaeden by the wrist of his sword hand, holding it in place. Jaeden mimicked this move by grabbing Ildton's in return as their blades slowly lowered, crossing between them. Ildton gave his mad laugh, leaning in closer to Jaeden's face, his tongue still hanging out. Jaeden's face winced slightly as his head turned to the side. Then, with his back braced against the tree, he gave a sudden shove with his whole upper body while stepping forward, sending Ildton flying through the air and falling to the ground. "Man, seriously, brush your teeth! Or find some mint leaves or something!" Jaeden said as he began rubbing the back of his hand along his nose. "Really, your breath smells like shyke that a skunk vomited after eating!" Jaeden then began wiping the back of his hand along the side of his pants as if to add to the insult as Ildton began to climb back to his feet. Daiss and Somar suddenly began rushing forward at Jaeden, who in reaction snatched his knife from it's sheath, flicking it in their direction. The knife spun one full rotation through the air before hitting Somar in the shoulder. Daiss paused, looking at Somar in surprise as Somar let out a loud shout of pain, reaching to the blade to pull it out. "Wow, it worked!" Jaeden suddenly said, a surprised look on his face as though it was his first time attempting it. Jaeden's eyes then widened as Daiss continued to rush him before quickly circling off to the side to prevent from being backed into the tree again. As he did so, Ildton came in for another strike as he swung his blade at Jaeden's right side. Jaeden blocked with the flat of his blade once again before running his shoulder into Ildton's chest, sending him stumbling backwards into Daiss as they both stumbled to the ground. Feeling overconfident, Jaeden suddenly jumped along the rock that Kamalia hid behind. A smile appeared on his face as he began waving his sword around in a fancy way as an overconfident laugh escaped his lungs as the three slavers began to regroup. Such disappeared immediately when he lost his grip along his sword and it went flying towards the slavers, embedding itself into the ground in front of them. "Oh shyke!" Jaeden then said as he found himself suddenly weaponless, knowing he wouldn't be able to pull his bow in time to get off a shot. The slavers then slowly began approaching as Jaeden weighed his options. He could continue to run, but then he would lose both his sword and his knife, and as tenacious as the slavers have been so far, it's likely they'd be even more so knowing that Jaeden no longer had a sword. The slavers slowly began approaching as Jaeden's gaze shifted between them and the, in a moment of desperation, Jaeden's hands shot to his waist suddenly dropping his pants and under garments down to his ankles before he raised his hands. "Alright then, come on! Fight the nude man!" Jaeden suddenly yelled as confused looks crossed the slaver's faces. Jaeden's face then garnered a look of confusion of his own as he noticed the slaver's gaze falling down, even further until it was level to his ankles. A slow frown crossed his face as he smirked. "Oh come on, it's not that big," Jaeden said before looking down himself to finally notice Kamalia hiding behind the rock. "Oh, hello. Don't I know you from somewhere?" "Wait a second," Jaeden then said as he then recalled he had his pants down around his ankles. "Ooooooooooooh this is really awkward."

[Kamalia Timandre]

Without movement and without noise, the konti maiden crouched and watched the events unfurl from behind the large slab of rock, her twilit violet eyes drinking in the scene before her. The young wizard struggled to stifle her mirth when the man sent the red-haired hoodlum flying through the air and down onto the leaf-blanketed floor, and remarked something about skunks throwing up fecal matter. Kamalia herself had never seen a skunk even once with her own eyes, but there were many dreadful tales in the yellowed pages of her lorebooks depicting skunks as those weasel-like creatures that released a horrendous stench whenever they were threatened. Gromhir had once shared his encounters to Kamalia with those small critters as well, and she could vividly remember his strange expression as the kelvic detailed his disastrous misadventures with a skunk. This was not the time to reminisce however. The loud scream from one of the slavers snatched the konti back from her momentary reverie. Now fully alert, Kamalia gaped at the slaver trying to pull out a dagger from his bloodied shoulder. She stared at Jaeden incredulously when the man overconfidently swung his sword about like an imbecile as if he were a toddler playacting. Her seer sensitivities began to tingle when she heard the man’s voice again, so familiar and so near to memory, yet she could not point out precisely where she had heard his voice. Suddenly, as if Lhex himself had woven dark humor to the loom of fate, the man lost his grip on his weapon and his blade went flying towards the slavers, implanting itself on the ground. “Well, that was stupid,” she murmured quietly to herself in velvet Kontinese. Kamalia realized how badly outnumbered this foolish human male was. The konti race shared a most striking history together with slavers from all corners, and Kamalia hated them with a passion. Konti slaves fetched the highest value in black markets and slave auctions for their divinatory powers and truth sensitivity, aside from their fey beauty and their ability to breed more konti. It was almost shocking that these slavers would be so desperate as to victimize a young human male! Despite his blatant clumsiness, this man looked quite imposing in size, having a muscular physique and the bulk and bearing of a warrior. This male would most likely be dragged into the gladiatorial fighting pits, and he would definitely be popular among the circles of promiscuous mistresses in darker cities. Could the slave industry be so flourishing that the slavers now prey even on adult males capable of fighting? Or perhaps this hauntingly familiar man had dealings with slaves and got them enraged somehow? Kamalia found no relief in this realization, for it was well known that that no one who had dealings with slavers ever did better than break even. For that matter, few survived. There was nothing to be gained by such alliances, and much at risk. Kamalia thought about running, yet her conscience wrestled with cold logic. The girl could not find it in her heart to just leave this man to a dismal fate. The konti sorceress had fought slavers before along with other konti, yet she did not relish the idea of fighting them on her own. The slavers slowly approached the man; she had to decided quickly. Before she could even think of her next move, the underdog standing on the rock suddenly pulled his trousers down to his ankles, making Kamalia’s jaws drop and her eyes widen. “*That* was stupid,” she half-whispered in Kontinese again. As if the man heard her words, he stared down at her and greeted her casually as if he was not in the midst of danger. Kamalia, poised for a fast retreat, paused and considered her next move. She knew at once that she had met the man somewhere else, and she felt a strange compulsion to help him out of this situation somehow. The gears in her head started turning as she devised a plan. Kamalia reached onto the coils of her hair and took from it three tiny Isurian steel blades shaped like six-pointed stars. Kamalia held a shooting star by one leg, and hurled the weapons one by one towards the slavers. With a lethal aim, a shooting star could handle most creatures of flesh and bone, and while Kamalia’s aim was far from lethal, she coated each blade with silvery res that will attract wind and would guide her weapons and augment their impact. While the shooting stars would not suffice to slay her enemies, she rather hoped she could use these weapons to slow them down. She silently blessed the man’s nude form to provide distraction for that vital moment. No matter what the results were, Kamalia would leap into the fray. She stood there, illumined by Syna’s golden touch, with hair the color of spun silver nimbus that fell in wavy locks to her legs, and almond shaped eyes that gleamed like a violet twilight, glinting with a restless intelligence and a love for action. She was surreally beautiful, and this pulchritude would be enough to provide as much distraction as Jaeden’s exposed jewels. “Why, hello there, boys. I see we’ve got a little action over here. Don’t you think that my market value is surpassingly higher than that pantless buffoon exhibiting on the rock? I’d wager it would be enough to pay your grandsire’s debt—and more,” she purred seductively, smiling at the slavers. She winked at Jaeden before pulling a gleaming whalebone suvai from the scabbard fastened to the sash around her hip. She turned to the slavers again, lips curved into a menacing smile. “Shall we play?” She raised her suvai in a slow, menacing arc.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s eyes widened as the Konti woman made her entrance, failing to even notice right away the stars she had thrown as two of them pierced Daiss' right shin, the third hitting Ildton in the thigh muscle of his left leg just inches to the left of his shin bone. The moves she exhibited, almost shining in what little light there was filtering through the forest canopy, seemed to capture Jaeden’s attention. Especially the curvature of her body as she pulled the suvai from, well Jaeden couldn’t rightly tell where she pulled it from on the account of leering at her rear. Then her enchanting voice as it echoed in Jaeden’s ears as she taunted the Slavers in front of her. Despite the fact that she graded her worth above his, which wasn’t exactly wrong in the long run, Jaeden couldn’t help but feel that warm fuzzy feeling down below. Then he heard her suggesting that they play, not even realizing that it was a challenge as his mind hit fantasy mode again. “Oh, if you insist,” Jaeden said in a lecherous tone as his hands made grabbing motions. He then paused, slapping his hand along his brow. “Right, battle going on.” Jaeden quickly pulled up his trousers, buckling them once again. His eyes fixed on the Kamalia, noticing her stance and how she held her weapon. There was a hesitation in it, as if her use of the weapon wasn’t her main choice of offense. Jaeden’s gaze then shifted back to the Slavers who slowly began inching towards her. Leaning forward, Jaeden pushed off with his legs as strongly as he could, launching himself through the air. He held his arms out wide, catching Daiss and Somar off guard as they were tackled to the ground. Jaeden rolled to his back, quickly sitting himself up as his hand snatched out, grasping his sword. Jaeden quickly swung his sword around at Ildton, who was currently turning towards Jaeden in slight distraction. His mind wasn’t so occupied, however, that his own sword went up to block Jaeden’s incoming swing as their swords echoed out when they clashed together. Jaeden kept moving forward as his left leg suddenly kicked out Ildton’s own from under him. The slaver fell to the ground square on his back as Jaeden soon stood between Kamalia and the trio who were in the process of recovering. The moment of Jaeden looking impressive passed, however, when he suddenly looked back to Kamalia. “Quick, grab my ass,” Jaeden suddenly said, “for luck.” Observing the negative look on Kamalia’s face in reaction, Jaeden just shook his head slightly. “No? I didn’t think so.” Jaeden said looking back to the slavers who were now back to their feet. “Keep back tracking, don’t let them surround us. If I force them to the ground and you see the opportunity, go in for your strike.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

Kamalia was no veteran suvai fighter—far from it. In fact, the konti had neglected weapons training back in the White Isle for she bore a strong dislike for all forms of melee combat. The girl had long accepted that she lacked the sea-fluid grace and the flowing dexterity that suvai maidens were envied for. Not that it mattered much now anyhow; there was little hope for her to improve, now that she was far removed from her homeland and that there were no accessible teachers and suvai practitioners outside Mura. For a moment, the kont hoped that she had taken her weapons training in the Suvai Pavilion more seriously, and had allowed Satu the Heartseer or her elder sister, Marishka, to educate her on the intricacies of bladework. For now, the girl rather hoped that the improvised stance would suffice to give the crooks a false impression that she was actually a competent fighter. At least two of her three shooting stars sank deep into the flesh and bone of the blond-haired slaver’s right shin. Kamalia took pleasure in this realization as the man flinched and staggered in pain. The wizard had little experience with throwing weapons as well, yet a spell-guided shooting star could work wonders. She made a mental note of this and resolved that she will practice her throws and improve her aim henceforth, combining steel with sorcery. To her relief, the distraction her entrance provided proved to be efficient as well as Jaeden found the opportunity to leap at two of the slavers and retrieve his blade. Kamalia silently applauded the man for his timing and bravery, and adjusted her opinion of the exhibitionist upward by several notches. She stared at him with a tight expression, lifting her chin in a royal hauteur when the man invited the konti to grasp his rear end. “Why, thank you for the offer, sir, but I must decline. My posteriors are lush and they grant me enough good fortune,” the white maiden said icily, shifting into a cat’s stance behind the man’s much larger form with her suvai drawn in her right hand, pointing downwards, ready to intercept incoming attacks. The girl listened to the man’s instruction and found them sound enough, but the wizard had other plans. “Actually, it might be wiser if we just run towards the river or a nearby stream. Trust me on this,” she half-whispered, quietly opening the lid of her waterskin fastened to her sash with her free hand.

[Jaeden Kincade]

“Okay then, you begin heading down there,” Jaeden said in the Konti tongue, “I’ll slow them down for whatever you’re planning.” As soon as Kamalia turned and began her movement down towards the river, Jaeden found himself standing between her and the three slavers, already beginning to give chase. Somar was the first to come within melee range with both of his legs uninjured. He swung his hammer upward, trying to catch the underside of Jaeden’s chin with his attack. Jaeden leaned back, narrowly avoiding the hammer as it grazed the tip of his chin, breaking skin as blood trailed upward for a moment from the hammer. Jaeden moved back in quickly, his left hand snatched out and grabbed Somar by his wrist when his swing had reached it’s full extent. “Not the face!” Jaeden suddenly yelled before hitting Somar along his brow with the hilt of his sword. Jaeden the began stepping backwards as Somar fell to the ground, grasping his head. Ildton was next to arrive as he tossed the star, freshly pulled from his leg, to the side. A scream was let out as he thrust his sword at Jaeden’s chest. Jaeden swung his sword upward, parrying the strike as he just continued to back away. Ildton swung his scimitar around in a slash this time, bringing it down towards Jaeden’s legs. Jaeden’s own sword came down, blocking it’s path as another loud clang echoed out. By now, Daiss was getting close, his ax raised high about to strike. Jaeden took a quick leap backwards, avoiding the incoming strike as the head of the ax buried into the ground a foot in front of him. His foot stomped down on Daiss’ ax, holding it in place before his sword was raised to block another slash from Ildton. Jaeden’s gaze quickly moved towards Somar, who had already recovered and was moving in quickly. “Okay, these guys work together a little bit better than the last group I encountered.“ Jaeden thought to himself as his hand snatched out, grabbing Ildton by his shirt before pulling him into Daiss. As Somar drew close, Jaeden quickly turned and ran. He knew what happened the last time he faced three men at a time, and didn’t wish a repeat of the event. He felt fortunate that at least none of them wielded spears this time around. He slowly looked back, seeing Somar still running at a quick pace behind him, Ildton and Daiss not far behind as they struggled to keep up with their injured legs. Jaeden suddenly stopped, swinging his sword around to face Somar. Somar stopped as well, holding his hammer out defensively as he waited for Ildton and Daiss to catch up. Jaeden simply smirked as he turned and began running once again, hearing Somar resume his run as well. “Whatever she has planned, I hope it’s good,” Jaeden then thought to himself as they drew closer towards the river.

[Kamalia Timandre]

Footfalls echoed through the lush undergrowth of the forest trail. Kamalia’s mind burst with the motions of adrenalin as a clever strategy formed in her head. The lid of her waterskin now open, the konti wizard whispered arcane words as djed coursed through her veins and sprang forth from her fingertips, attracting the liquid from the open water receptacle, and shaping it into a water lance. Quickly, her chanting took an eerie counterpoint as she summoned freezing res all over the liquid, turning it into a javelin of ice. She stopped and turned, keeping her feet spread apart in a spellcasting stance. Then in one fluid movement, she flung her arms in the direction of the pursuers as she hurled the frozen spear towards Somar. Just that, and Kamalia whirled and rushed towards the river once again. She peered behind her shoulder from time to time, trying to see if Jaeden was tagging the slavers along. By the sound of combat and the screams of the chase, it appeared that their plan succeeded. The sloshing sound of the river soon drew closer to her ears, the fresh waters that gave life to the forest beds pregnant with her greatest weapon of choice. Halting her striding by the edge of the bank, she waited for Jaeden and their pursuers to come within sight before she calmly bent down to scoop some of the water into a cupped hand. An intense azure light began to radiate from her palm, allowing the water to feed off of her magical energies. The grasp of her stiffened hand began to relax as the liquid within began to form an illuminated sphere, the res compressing the substance together in a tight, free-flowing orb. Violet irises sharpened in anticipation as the pounding on the trail grew louder and louder. Stretching her arm forward, with her other hand drawing her suvai in case they escaped the magic she had prepared, she stood like a vengeful wraith before the four men. She sped through the gestures of a morning fog spell, a handy bit of magic that transformed a targeted water source into thick, harmless vapour. Her outstretched hand's fingers began to twist together, ending in a point towards the river. Magic collected in her hand, forming an orb of sparkling lights. The wizard smiled, after which she let fly the res. Her globe struck the rushing water with a damp sigh and a scattering of stardust. A few wisps of mists spiralled towards the sun. Kamalia willed the djed to swirl around the area, manipulating air and the tiny miniscule droplets to condense the mists into thick fogs. The wizard began to enshroud the area in front of the slavers with fogs dense enough to conceal her form and bewilder their pursuers. “Come closer and stand here beside me. I am going to cast a more complex spell. Just watch the fog and kill anything that gets out of it and tries to get close to me,” she would tell Jaeden if he managed to keep up with her pace. Kamalia turned to face the river again, her fingers fluttered in the air as she began to sing a crystalline spellsong.

[Jaeden Kincade]

Jaeden’s eyes went wide as an ice lance suddenly came rushing towards him. He his suddenly dropped down and jerked to the side. He quickly looked over his shoulder as the ice lance impaled Somar’s left leg, sending him falling to the ground and screaming out in pain. His eyes still wide, Jaeden slowly looked back towards the Konti he was following as he let out a nervous exhale. Jaeden slowly turned, raising his sword to slow the other two in their pursuit, but found them stopping to aid Somar for the moment. His gaze remained on them as he motioned for the Konti to continue her run towards the river. Jaeden continued to step backwards, slowing his own pace down to make sure the three slavers didn’t take a different path all of a sudden to come up on the his and the Konti’s flank. Greed over the amount a Konti slave would bring, however, pushed the men forward as Somar rose to his feet with the aid of the other two. Jaeden just let out a sigh. “Shyke, they’re persistent.” Jaeden commented under his breath, hoping that they would have given up the chase. Jaeden then turned to run once again, only to immediately stop as he was mere inches away from running into the Konti as she weaved more of her magic. “Oh, we there already?” Jaeden commented as he stood almost nose to nose with the woman before taking a step back. Jaeden then slowly turned as the fog began to encompass the three slavers, causing them to echo out comments of confusion. He then heard the Konti’s voice whispering into his ear of her plan, and his part in it. With a stern nod, he simply raised his sword in a medium guard. “Right,” Jaeden said simply. “Operation meat shield is now in effect. Jaeden Kincade, by the way.” It was likely his voice that lured the first of them, Ildton, out of the fog. He took a quick look to his surroundings, his gaze eventually falling on Jaeden and the Konti. That same insane look on his face remained as he gave no shouts of direction to the other two, but rather began moving towards Jaeden, readying his blade for an attack. Jaeden took two calm steps forward, keeping his gaze shifting between Ildton’s blade and shoulder. When Jaeden noticed the muscles in Ildton’s shoulder suddenly tense up, he knew the strike was coming. And come it did, as Ildton drew back his blade before a quick thrust was aimed for Jaeden’s chest. Jaeden quickly turned to the side, swinging his blade around the parry as the steel of their blades echoed out into the forest, causing the other two to shout out confirmations to each other as to the direction. Jaeden’s body continued to spin after the parry as he brought his blade around in a full circle before nearly cleaving half way through Ildton’s leg with his sword. Ildton screamed out in pain as he dropped to one knee, his hand instinctively reaching to grasp at his wound. Jaeden didn’t waste any time following through as he stood behind Ildton now, drawing back his blade as his free hand gripped Ildton’s shoulder. A quick thrust found the tip of Jaeden’s sword piercing through Ildton’s back, impaling the slaver’s heart in the process. Jaeden’s face bore a neutral expression to Ildton’s sudden gasping and shock, the slaver’s gaze falling down to see the tip of Jaeden’s sword now protruding out of his chest. Jaeden’s expression hinted that he wasn’t thrilled with violence, but also showed he wouldn’t shy away from such if pushed, proving such as he gave a strong jerk of his blade, forcing it downward as it cleaved through part of Ildton’s heart, finally killing the slaver. Jaeden’s foot was then raised to press along Ildton’s back, pushing his body forward as Jaeden withdrew his blade. His ear twitched slightly as he heard the approaching footsteps of the remaining two. “Whatever you have planned,” Jaeden then said in the Konti tongue, “I hope it’s about ready. When the other two get here I don’t think I’ll be able to hold them off for longer than five ticks before one of them slips past me.”

[Kamalia Timandre]

The spellsong started solemn and serene, as elusive and enchanting as an ocean-deep dream. The lyrics of the incantation were lost to Jaeden as the konti sorceress sang in the ancient tongue. Kamalia began the deep concentration that such magic demanded. Marshalling all the discipline of her magical training, Kamalia closed her eyes and dispelled the sounds of the battle as she entered the spellcasting trance. Her body began to sway in a gossamer dance, and her hands gestured as she pulled power from the djed within her body and weaved it into another globe of sparkling res. Her hands cupped around the silver orb that sizzled with promises of power. This she hurled towards the gleaming, rushing water of the Bronze River. When the sphere of summoned power sank into the river’s depths, Kamalia stood immobile as she waited for the precise moment to set the magic afloat. Once again, magic claimed her, called to her, whispered to her dark and seductive promises as she plummeted into a sea of spell-induced euphoria. It was ecstatic, almost aphrodisiacal, as magic scorched her soul in an infernal tempest. Deep beneath the surface of rushing water, the silver sphere of res started to spin and whirl in a vortex, pulling water towards it as it amassed liquid force and grew in size. When the water ball was immense enough, the sorceress flung both arms skywards and a large solid globe of water rose from a miniature whirlpool in the river. Kamalia’s spellsong gathered speed and power as she willed her djed to levitate the ball high in the air. This feat alone made Kamalia feel the strain of spellcasting, and she could already savor the familiar, metallic tang of slight overgiving in her mouth. Magic consumed her entirety as her lithe fingers danced and fluttered in the air in elaborate gestures. The wizard’s fey song soared into a keening note as she reveled in the nirvana caused by the djed surging within her body and coursing through her veins. She sent a fresh stream of res gushing forth from the tips of her fingers that summoned wind to enclose around the sphere of water as a compressed formation of air. Weaving both her res and the element of air, Kamalia drew the water ball closer towards them until it hovered above their heads. Kamalia commanded the air surrounding the large sphere of river liquid to compress further, vastly increasing the pressure of the water within. The young mage had long ago learned by heart how to manipulate water pressure using the laws of res, force and motion, allowing her to pressurize to such a level where it can slice through solid objects. “Hush. I am trying to concentrate here,” Kamalia replied to Jaeden in velveteen Kontinese. The fact that the human male spoke in her mother tongue was lost on the konti too. Her vibrant violet eyes took note of the slaver’s corpse sprawled nearby on the forest floor before closing them once again to brace herself for the next part of her spell. Again she sang in a soprano voice, drowning out the sounds of the battle and the forest with her spellsong. The konti’s song was starlight and magic and wind and every mysterious emotion Jaeden could name. Slowly, as if in a graceful dance, her hands turned palms out and her arms stretched high then went out wide. The water globe began shooting tremendously high pressured jets towards the fog, lightning-fast projectile strong enough to blast through flesh, bone and armor. The strain of spellcasting and the onset of overgiving now made itself apparent on Kamalia’s visage as her face went ghostly pale and her entire body began to shudder.