(Flashback) Backlash and Balance (Seul Galemoon)

by **Brodon Windriver** on July 10th, 2012, 2:31 am

The whip caught the bony hand as he unleashed his fireball. The flame caught the whip and traveled its length in a second, incinerating it as it found Brodon's hand. Though the power was reduced due to the reimancer splitting his focus between the two men, and further reduced with its energy partially spent on the whip's length, it still left Brodon's hand and forearm charred and smoking. He collapsed to his knees, teeth grinding in pain as he inched his way towards the remaining canteens.

The assistant took his fireball in the side as he rolled, his shield absorbing most of it, but a second orb was hindered only by flesh and it became hard to tell where burnt clothes ended and burnt flesh began. He screamed in pain as the reimancer laughed.

He spun suddenly and faced a direction empty of anyone and launched another fireball, cursing his imagined targets' quick feet. "You'll ALL pay for trying to keep me from her." Brodon noticed him twitching as he raised his arms again, the sleeves of his robe on fire now, his hair withering in a cloud of smoke. He hoped the madman's hallucinations persisted as he took advantage of his distraction to locate the remaining canteens by the body of the assistant's dead strider.

There were still four of them looped on the yvas. Extras to guard against dehydration while fighting a fire. Brodon tore one loose and poured some of it over his hand and arm. relishing the relief from the pain. He poured the rest over the assistant's burns, commenting on the luck of having brought so many canteens.

"He's almost...burned himself out...overgiving," the assistant gasped, the pain still intense, "If we can just...last a...little...longer"

There was a burst of heat as another fireball roared over the body of the dead horse while the reimancer cursed it's interference. Brodon dared a look and nearly quailed at the monstrous visage the reimancer presented. Eyes burst, the sockets aflame. Shimmering heat, occasionally igniting, where his hair would have been. His robe, tattered and burning, fire leaking out of rents in his torso, his open mouth glowing red, the heat making his face shimmer.

"I DON'T NEED TO SEE YOU, FOOLS! I WILL BRING CLOUD FIRE DOWN FROM THE SKY!" The man shrieked in a frenzy of overgiving hate. He thrust his arms up in the air and Brodon suddenly knew what to do. There were only seconds. He threw the half empty canteen at the mans feet, splashing water on the grassy turf. He grabbed a second canteen and nearly tore the cap off, cocking his arm to throw, but hesitating, trusting his instinct.

The man cocked his elbows as he prepared to launch his arms up again and Brodon threw the canteen overhand into the air above the man. It tumbled in the air as it carried, spilling an arc of water into the air over the raging man's head.

The powerful lightning strike found its circuit - water pooled on the ground, water spilling in the air, and a human body full of water, with raised arms, in between. Brodon pitched headlong onto the ground as the deafening flash seared the figure in place in a blinding white inferno. The sizzling pillar of incandescence danced with the source of its creation for three full seconds, leaving a bubbling heap of greasy bones that could have once been any kind of animal, but was unrecognizable now, save for the skull.

Brodon took the last two canteens, and poured them over the assistant and himself. He tossed the empty vessels aside and lifted the man in his arms. "Grit your teeth and imagine you're cutting that bastard's heart out, it will help you focus on something besides the pain. If you HAVE to scream, DON'T BREATHE BACK IN UNTIL WE'RE THROUGH" he shouted over the roar of the flames and he charged as best he could into the spot where the firewall had last closed.

by **Brodon Windriver** on July 12th, 2012, 3:27 am

Both men were screaming as they emerged from the far side of the relatively narrow wall of flame. A group of riders wheeled about with a shout. Brodon collapsed in relief and pain, his last conscious effort to avoid setting the assistant on the ground too roughly. He had vague impressions of gasps and curses as his equilibrium whirled and he passed out.

He awoke in a tent, attended by healers. he was glad to see that they were focusing more on the assistant, who had half his body covered in bandages. He had been lucky, none of his internal organs had been exposed, though several ribs had. He would be recuperating painfully for quite some time, but he was expected to recover fully.

Brodon's burns, meanwhile, were mostly superficial, except for his hand. He was not surprised to see his father burst in within moments of the attendants' realization that he had awakened. He WAS surprised to see the Shielding Master in tow. His father did not object that the Master went first to his assistant, his grief and outrage genuine, but quietly restrained.

A crowd gathered around Brodon now as he told them what had happened. Everyone lauded his courage and his last burst of endurance to carry the assistant out of the fire. Then they parted to allow a young lady passage. She ran to the Master in tears and they hugged intently for several seconds.

"I'm so sorry, honey. So sorry..." he repeated softly to her, "I thought very highly of him. He will be missed." Her tears continued unabated for several chimes as everyone looked on in sympathy, many wiping away tears of their own. Brodon found himself choking up and realized this must be the girl that the Stormwarden had been killed for.

The girl regained her composure and approached Brodon, her voice unsteady, but carrying conviction. "I understand you are the young man that stopped the murdering monster that killed my fiance." There were several quiet gasps at the news that they had been engaged. "You have my thanks, sir. If there is anything I can do for you, you need only name it."

"My only request would be to ask that you ensure that he also shares the credit." he pointed to the assistant, still being attended to. "Without his distracting the maniac, I could never had succeeded. And as a result, he took, by far, the larger injury. When he comes around, he should be hailed a hero."

The master approached him, a look of curious respect on his face. "Young Brodon, what you have done is remarkable. You have defeated a gifted reimancer without the benefit of shielding. I'm not so sure it isn't YOU that should be teaching a class. I'm sorry I was so short with you."

"No sir, I deserved it. As I said, it was your assistant suffering the majority of the attacks that allowed me the edge I was lucky enough to exploit. And his shield gave him protection from the first attack. I can well see the necessity of the skill now. But my father DID always say that no skill is foolproof. I was fortunate to stumble across his weakness. Water."

"Well then," his father said, with encouraging bravado, "the sooner you shake off this little scratch, the sooner you can be about it. That is, IF you are sure you want to put your Falconry pursuits on hold." It was a question as much as a statement.

"Actually, Father, I WAS sort of thinking of doing both."

His father clapped his hand on Brodon's shoulder and laughed as the Shielding Master just shook his head, grinning.

by **Lariat** on July 22nd, 2012, 2:54 am

Moderator Intervention

Hello Brodon,

Before this thread is eligible to receive a grade, I need you to alter it. The major part that needs to be changed is the large scale fire caused by the red robed man because simply this plot requires permission from myself as it involves a very uncommon scenario that holds the fate of more than just your drykas, and hence requires moderation.

Changing it to perhaps a small scale fire of natural causes with no robed villain would be acceptable so as to provide an example. A completely different plot line would be acceptable as well as long as it does not involve powerful NPCs, and doesn't concern any fates beyond yours, your thread partners and that of some minor npcs used for the sake of the thread to keep it moving along. Remember, Endrykas is a meeting place for the Drykas, a quite fluid location since it is in a different place each season. Its current whereabouts are one of the best secrets the drykas keep, and the only outsiders invited within are those who have found to be well trusted by other drykas families, and thusly very unlikely to jeopardize that well earned trust. The Web, the best kept secret of all, keeps the sea of grass well monitored and thus intrusions from less than savory characters from doing much harm.

Also a minor note is a request for you to alter your mention of you blocking the glass beak's strike with shielding. As I reviewed in my comment on that thread, such a thing wasn't possible due to your skill, and thus did not occur. You are welcome to reason the blocked strike in other way however as long as they don't include shielding, the magic of course. Once you have made the corrections and altered your thread with its new chosen course let me know and I will remove this intervention and grade this thread promptly. I look forward to seeing what you will come up with.

Sincerely,
Lariat

by **Jackalope** on September 30th, 2012, 2:40 pm

Results!

Brodon :

Seul, if you return, PM me and I'll get you a grade.

Good job considering the poofing of your threading partner and Lariat's retirement. Thanks for working with me to get this resolved. I think decreasing the size of the fire and creating an internal enemy did the trick. Lemme know if you've got an questions, comments, or concerns!